SAN DIEGO -- California's insurance commissioner has ordered his auditors to examine how insurance companies handled claims from last year's devastating wildfires.

Commissioner Steve Poizner says his agency has already persuaded insurance companies to pay $13 million in disputed claims from the 2007 fires.

But homeowners who lost their homes in the Witch Creek fire last October said at a news conference yesterday in San Diego that some insurance companies misled them before the wildfire about how much coverage they needed to fully rebuild their homes.

A lobbyist in Sacramento for the Association of California Insurance Companies said some policyholders may fail to ask their insurers to raise their coverage after making major improvements.