Sign or Hold Out? A Survivor’s Guide to SCE’s Eaton Fire Fund

Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Eaton Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program promises quick payouts, but the fine print is confusing and overwhelming. This explainer lays out what the program actually offers to help you understand what’s on the table before you decide.

When’s the deadline to file?

You can submit an application until November 30, 2026. That’s the last day to submit your Claim Form and upload all required documents (so your claim is considered complete). It describes this as the submission deadline, not as a deadline for signing a Settlement Agreement or Release. The protocol says your claim must be completed “no later than” the 30th!

Who is eligible?

You don’t necessarily have to be a homeowner or even live in Altadena. There are actually a few different ways that you may be eligible:

You lived or owned property in the eligibility area, and you have fire-related damage that’s documented in CAL FIRE’s DINS database, tagged by the county, or confirmed through burn or smoke/soot/ash impacts.
- This includes renters as long as your rental agreement was in effect on Jan 7,2025, you had the right to stay at least 30 consecutive days, and you were actually living in the unit on Jan 7.
- Businesses can file too if they owned or occupied a property.
You were injured from the Eaton Fire and you had an overnight hospital stay or outpatient treatment between Jan 7 and 15. You’ll need documentation.
If a loved one passed away due to injuries caused by the Eaton Fire, and you are the legally authorized representative, you can file on their behalf. The LA County Medical Examiner must have noted the death as fire-related, and they must have passed on or before Jan 31, 2025.

What’s the eligibility area?

You can check the eligibility area when you start your claim. There are 2 zones:

Zone 1 sits around the burn scar itself, reaching roughly 400 feet past the fire perimeter.
Zone 2 extends farther out to include nearby properties affected.

How fast will money arrive?

The program sorts every claim into two tracks, Fast Pay and Detailed Review. Everyone, by default, starts in the Fast Pay lane:

Fast Pay

You get an offer based on preset formulas
Less documentation is required
Some parts of your payment can be reduced by insurance, while other fixed-amount categories stay the same
You can receive your Fast Pay offer within 90 days of turning in a complete claim

If the Fast Pay number feels too low, you can turn it down and opt for a Detailed Review:

Detailed Review

Requires more documentation
Longer time to receive an offer (up to nine months)
Payments can be reduced by insurance - SCE looks at full insurance limits, and every economic category is subject to insurance offsets. SCE may review photos, appraisals, rebuild plans, contractor bids, and even visit the property.

If the Detailed Review ends up lower than your Fast Pay offer, the Program lets you keep the higher Fast Pay amount.

Once you get your Settlement Offer — Fast Pay or Detailed Review — you have 90 days to accept it or the offer expires. To accept, everyone on the claim must sign and notarize the agreement and return the required tax forms. Once SCE has received all the documents, they will issue payment in 30 days.

Do I Lose Legal Leverage by Signing?

If you accept a payout, you must sign a Settlement Agreement and Release that waives ALL past and future claims against SCE and its affiliates connected to the Eaton Fire.

You can keep your options open and test the program, though. You can file or continue a lawsuit and apply at the same time. You keep your legal rights until you accept an offer and sign the release.

The first Eaton Fire trials are not set until January 2027, but attorneys involved expect many cases to settle well before then. “A trial date is one that actually holds their feet to the fire and motivates them to resolve the case,” Eaton Fire attorney Allan Bridgford said.

Lawsuits can take 2–5+ years and may result in higher, more individualized payouts, but they also bring uncertainty, stress, and attorney fees.

Many wildfire lawyers work on contingency, meaning you don’t pay anything up front. They only get paid if you receive a settlement or verdict. Their fees usually fall in the 25–33% range, and some firms go up to 40%.

“If you were affected by the Eaton Fires and have not secured representation, time is of the essence. It’s predicted that many cases could be resolved before the two-year statute of limitations,” Eaton Fire Lawyers explained.

If you already have an attorney when you file your claim, SCE adds an attorney-fee payment equal to 10% of your net economic loss (after insurance offsets) plus your non-economic compensation. That amount is only paid if you accept a settlement agreement and release. If you turn down SCE’s offer, you won’t receive any program payments.

In past wildfire cases, survivors who went the lawsuit route sometimes recovered far more than those in large group settlements. One Portland jury awarded $56 million to 11 plaintiffs in July 2025 over the 2020 Labor Day fires, finding PacifiCorp negligent for causing several of those fires. A later $150 million settlement for 1,434 people impacted by the same fires produced much smaller checks per person.

Which payments get reduced by insurance?

No matter which track you choose, your claim can include three types of compensation: Economic Loss, Direct Claim Premium, and Non-Economic Loss. Economic loss is the only compensation category that CAN be affected by insurance.

Economic Loss covers the dollars-and-cents impact. Think rebuilding, repairs, lost belongings, loss of use, business disruption, physical injuries, and the financial fallout of losing a loved one.

The other 2 types: Non-Economic Loss and Direct Claim Premium are NOT reduced by insurance. These are fixed amounts. Check out the table below for more details.

Direct Claim Premium – A fixed bonus added to your award. This is not reduced by insurance.

You do not receive every property-related Premium category you fit into. The Program applies only the highest applicable property Direct Claim Premium per property. Death and Physical Injury Premiums are separate and get added on top of that. What the Protocol doesn’t explicitly explain is how any of those Premiums interact with non-economic payments.

	Direct Claim Premiums (Examples)
	Category	Fixed Amount
	Injury and Death
	If you lost a loved one	$5,000,000 per decedent (Separate from the $1.5M non-economic death payment)
	If you were physically injured	$20,000 per injured individual (Separate from the $20,000 non-economic injury payment)
	Property – Residential Destroyed Structures
	Owner-occupant, destroyed primary structure	$200,000
	Owner-landlord, destroyed primary structure	$150,000
	Owner-occupant, destroyed secondary structure (ADU, detached garage)	$100,000
	Owner-landlord, destroyed secondary structure (ADU, detached garage)	$25,000
	Tenant of destroyed residential structure (Includes tenants of destroyed primary or secondary dwellings such as ADUs)	$50,000 per adult

Non-Economic Loss – Payments for what you went through. These fixed amounts cover trauma, injury, and the loss of a family member. None of these payments are reduced by insurance.

For non-economic loss, residents do not receive every category they fall under. The Program pays only the single highest applicable resident category per person, based on the damage classification of the dwelling you lived in. The document does not spell out what happens if that same person also qualifies for a non-economic injury payment or a death payment.

	Non-Economic Loss Payments (Examples)
	Category	Fixed Amount
	Property
	If the Unit YOU Lived In Was Destroyed	$115,000 per adult $75,000 per child
	If Your Unit Was NOT Destroyed, but a Different Structure on the Property Was: Owner-occupants (e.g., your garage/ADU burned, but your home did not) Renters living in a different unit on the property	$50,000 per adult $25,000 per child $30,000 per adult $15,000 per child
	If the Unit You Lived In Had Major Damage	$50,000 per adult $25,000 per child
	If the Unit You Lived In Had Minor Damage or Was “Affected” (Zone 1)	$20,000 per adult $10,000 per child
	If the Unit You Lived In Had Minor Damage or Was “Affected” (Zone 2)	$10,000 per adult $5,000 per child
	If You Were Physically Injured	$20,000 per injured person (adult or minor)
	If You Lost a Loved One	$1,500,000 for the decedent $500,000 for the surviving spouse $500,000 per eligible dependent

Note: There is a bit of overlap between categories — for example, injury- and death-related payments appear in more than one section. The Program separates financial losses (economic) from trauma-related fixed payments (non-economic), even when they stem from the same loss.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here, and that’s okay. Many Southern California law firms are providing free consultations for wildfire survivors to talk through SCE fund options. Lean on expert support and take care of yourself as you decide what’s best for you.

Firms offering free consultations to discuss your options:

Disclaimer: The content shared in our blog is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, medical, or financial advice. Please consult with a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.