"Nine months had passed since a wildfire destroyed Mark Johnson's southern California home, and he was still waiting for State Farm to pay his claim. Desperate for a resolution, Johnson asked the insurer in October to negotiate a settlement so his family could rebuild. "I was on the verge of leaving money on the table," Johnson recalls, "just to get some kind of assurance of what we could move forward with.""
""Needless to say, it was a huge relief," Johnson says, fighting back tears. Johnson isn't alone. State Farm is California's top home insurer, and many customers around Los Angeles started to get checks in November after LA County announced it was investigating complaints about how the company had handled claims from last January's wildfires, says Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network. For homeowners, the battle to collect insurance money after the Eaton and Palisades fires has exacerbated a grueling recovery that's far from over."
""This is a national issue," Rep. John Garamendi, a California Democrat, told reporters recently. He added, "the first commandment of the insurance industry is to pay as little, as late as possible.""
Nine months after wildfires destroyed Mark Johnson's southern California home, State Farm delayed payment on his claim until late November after he requested settlement negotiations. Many Los Angeles homeowners received checks only after LA County opened an investigation into insurer handling of claims from January wildfires. Survivors scrambled for alternate funding, incurred debt, and bounced between rentals while disputing coverage with State Farm and other insurers. Rising premiums and climate-driven wildfire risk have intensified national frustration with insurers. Rep. John Garamendi criticized industry practices as aiming to pay as little and as late as possible. State Farm issued a brief statement asserting it takes every claim seriously.
Read at www.npr.org
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