California Launches Investigation of Insurance Company for Abusing Fire Victims
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara launched an official investigation into State Farm for abusive practices against policyholders in the wake of the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in January.
As Breitbart News has reported, State Farm dropped many of its customers in fire-prone zones in the months — even days — before the fires, acting partly in response to California’s refusal, at the time, to let insurance companies raise premiums in response to growing future risks.
Yet many policyholders who were lucky enough to retain their policies found that State Farm was indifferent at best and abusive at worst when it came to fulfilling its obligations to help them rebuild.
Policyholders whose homes burnt down completely complained of being forced to itemize every single lost possession to receive 100% of their coverage for destroyed property. Many also received lowball offers of compensation from the company, apparently designed to encourage cash-strapped residents to settle for less than they were entitled to receive. And State Farm became notorious for reassigning insurance adjusters, meaning that policyholders often had to work with three or four, starting over with each new adjuster assigned to them.
Critics said that State Farm was trying to spread its losses out over multiple quarters. Local resident Joy Chen of Altadena, who organized protests against the company, alleged that adjusters’ initial estimates of damage were being revised downward by the company’s head office as part of a deliberate strategy. (Read more from “California Launches Investigation of Insurance Company for Abusing Fire Victims” HERE)
