SAN DIEGO -- Karen Reimus is a fire survivor who is rebuilding her Scripps Ranch home.

Like many families overwhelmed by the fires, the Reimus family had only minutes to decide what to save, believing their insurance would cover their losses.

Don Hulte lost his home in Crest and hoped he would be able rebuild it just like it was. However, he realized his insurance would only rebuild half his home.

"It's an emotional roller coaster and you don't need that when Mother Nature takes everything from you and rips your heart out," Hulte said.

From Ramona to Scripps Ranch to Crest, many fire survivors discover one unexpected problem in common -- they were underinsured.

"We were told we had replacement coverage. But we discovered replacement doesn't mean replacement in the manner in which most people know the word in the English language," Reimus told 10News.

Reimus and her husband, who are both lawyers, forced a settlement with their insurance company to rebuild. Hulte did the same, but knows many of his neighbors still struggle.

Fire survivor Charles Connoy is literally running out of money to live on.

"Our ale will run out at the end of November like everyone else's. All State gets two bites at the apple -- stalling on benefits to rebuild and because you didn't finish on time, you're running out of money," Connoy said.

California's Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said, "(Fire victims) had a tough job because the insurance laws and the way the insurance companies have treated them just is abominable."

Garamendi said only one-third of fire survivors have filed for building permits, in large part because of lingering disputes with their insurance companies.

"What we've learned from this is we have to change the laws so people have enough coverage and people are paid promptly and fully," Garamendi said.

Reimus and Hulte were among Garamendi's dynamic dozen -- they lobbied the California legislature for a Homeowners' Bill of Rights. The bill gives consumers protection from non-renewal or cancellation for one year after a disaster, extension of the one-year limit for homeowners to rebuild and process claims, full disclosure of policy limits and creation of a mediation program to resolve insurance disputes.

Attorneys Harvey Levine and Richard Huver are suing insurance companies for fraud and unfair business practices, according to 10News.

"We want the insurance companies to provide the coverage or tell consumers to assume risk and then stop telling consumers you're fully covered," Huver said.

Garamendi agreed and said the insurance industry has actually been caught misusing software designed to set policy limits and premiums.

In its defense, the insurance industry said most homeowners are underinsured because of unreported property improvements or they live in areas where construction costs are very high.

Though some insurance carriers are settling with San Diego fire survivors on a case-by-case basis, survivors like Reimus have spent the last year fighting for insurance reform.

"We were able to band together and with support of this amazing community we got some legislation passed and hopefully we're not done," Reimus said.