January 2025 wildfire victims seek tougher penalties against State Farm over claims handling
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A fire survivors’ group announced Thursday it was seeking tougher penalties against State Farm over its handling of January 2025 wildfire claims.The Every Fire Survivor’s Network said it was petitioning to join a state enforcement action announced this year against the company to make sure the case results in meaningful changes at California’s largest home insurer.“We’re seeking a systematic review of all their claims and penalties calibrated to the actual scale of the harm — and we’re seeking the payouts that families are owed,” said Joy Chen, executive director of the group, at a Pacific Palisades press conference joined by victims of the fires.The Department of Insurance in May filed an administrative action against State Farm General — the subsidiary of the giant Bloomington, Ill., insurer that handles California home insurance — after completing a “market conduct” exam.Business The California Department of Insurance is seeking to suspend State Farm’s license and fine it millions of dollars, alleging widespread mishandling of L.A.
wildfire claims.The Jan.7, 2025 fire damaged or destroyed more than 18,000 structures and killed 31 people.
State Farm has received more January 2025 claims than any other insurer — over 13,700 auto and homeowners claims as of May 4, with payouts totaling $5.7 billion, according to the company.The market conduct exam looked at 220 sample claims filed by the victims and found 398 violations of state law in about half of them.Among other alleged violations, it found that the company failed in numerous cases to pursue a “thorough, fair and objective investigation” into claims, failed to come to “prompt, fair, and equitable settlements” and made settlement offers that were “unreasonably low.”In announcing the action, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara called the company’s claims handling “unacceptable” and...