Many fire survivors are coming up on the first year anniversary of their disaster. Many see that their policy has a deadline that states they must repair or replace within one year, but is that true for everyone? If you live in California and your property was damaged due to a State OR Federal disaster you should look into the state regulation 2051.5.

The description of this law given on the California Department of Insurance website reads as follows:

"Allows at least 12 months to rebuild and still receive replacement costs with possibility of a 6 month extension.  If a declared disaster (Governor's State of Emergency), homeowner/insured has at least 24 months to repair, rebuild or replace the home."

You can read the summary here:
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/consumer-alerts/2007newlawsnoticecawildfire.cfm

Or read the exact code here:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ins&group=02001-03000&file=2050-2060