L.A. County sues State Farm over its handling of wildfire claims

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Set us as preferred Los Angeles County announced Monday that it had filed a lawsuit against State Farm General after hundreds of victims of last year’s devastating wildfires complained that their claims had been delayed, denied or underpaid.The lawsuit alleges that State Farm engaged in illegal and deceptive business practices that kept victims of the Palisades and Eaton fires from receiving what they were entitled to under their policies.County officials said their investigation into the complaints found unreasonable delays in processing claims, as well as “systematic underpayments.”Officials said they also found that State Farm had illegally suppressed smoke damage claims.“Survivors are just asking for what’s right,” L.A.County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena, said at a Monday news conference.Bob Devereux, a State Farm spokesman, said in a statement that the company would respond to the lawsuit through the legal process.“State Farm General strongly disagrees with Los Angeles County’s characterization of our wildfire claims response,” he said.Devereux said that State Farm has so far paid more than $6.2 billion on claims related to the two wildfires, including about $1 billion for smoke-related damage.

About 78% of the claims have been closed, he said.“We continue working directly with customers whose claims remain open and evaluating each claim based on the facts of the loss and the coverage provided by the customer’s policy,” he said.“Our focus remains on helping customers recover,” he said.Wildfire victims praised county officials for the lawsuit, which was filed in L.A.County Superior Court.Joy Chen, executive director of Every Fire Survivor’s Network, said at the news conference that, in the months after the fires, it became apparent in talking to victims that those with ...