\u00a0LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Los Angeles County is investigating\u00a0Farmers<\/p>\n
Insurance Company’s handling of insurance claims filed by policy holders<\/p>\n
affected by the January 2025 Eaton and Palisades Fires, officials announced<\/p>\n
today.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0The investigation focuses on potential violations of California’s<\/p>\n
Unfair Competition Law and “follows growing complaints from residents about<\/p>\n
delays, refusals to pay for testing and remediation of lead and other<\/p>\n
contamination, underpayments, and denials of legitimate wildfire claims,”<\/p>\n
according to a statement from the county.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0“Eaton Fire survivors did everything right — responsibly paying<\/p>\n
their premiums year after year — but when disaster hit,\u00a0Farmers\u00a0left them with<\/p>\n
a contaminated home and refused to pay for testing and cleanup,” County<\/p>\n
Supervisor Kathryn Barger said. “That’s an unfair business practice that needs<\/p>\n
to end now. My constituents shouldn’t have to walk back into homes with lead<\/p>\n
and asbestos because an insurance company won’t pay for the test that would<\/p>\n
prove it’s there. We are going to hold\u00a0Farmers\u00a0accountable to the law, and if<\/p>\n
they’ve broken it, they will answer for it.”<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0Officials said that at a recent meeting with Eaton Fire survivors,<\/p>\n
Farmers\u00a0policy holders told the county that the company has been slow,<\/p>\n
resistant or outright refused to pay for testing for contamination by qualified<\/p>\n
industrial hygienists, forcing residents to pay for testing out of pocket.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0Testing allegedly revealed that many standing homes are contaminated<\/p>\n
with unsafe levels of lead, asbestos, chromium and other toxic substances.<\/p>\n
Survivors further reported that\u00a0Farmers\u00a0is refusing to pay for adequate<\/p>\n
remediation of these contaminants and declining to cover ongoing living<\/p>\n
expenses.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Farmers\u00a0Insurance issued a statement saying the company is dedicated<\/p>\n
to helping wildfire victims “recover and move forward.”<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0“Since the fires, we have dedicated significant resources to<\/p>\n
assisting affected policyholders and providing support throughout the claims<\/p>\n
process,” according to the company. “Serving our customers during difficult<\/p>\n
times is at the heart of what we do, which is why each claim is reviewed<\/p>\n
individually, taking into account the specific circumstances of the loss and<\/p>\n
the coverage provided under the policy. We remain focused on handling claims<\/p>\n
with care, consistency and attention to each customer’s unique situation.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0“As always, we operate in accordance with applicable laws and<\/p>\n
regulations. We do not believe the inquiry accurately characterizes our actions<\/p>\n
or practices and will cooperate through the appropriate process.”<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said policyholders who have paid<\/p>\n
“million of dollars in premiums … deserve the benefits and support they paid<\/p>\n
for.”<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0“Families whose homes survived the Palisades and Eaton Fires but<\/p>\n
remain damaged or contaminated should not be forced to choose between returning<\/p>\n
to an unsafe home and financial devastation,” Horvath said. “Farmers\u00a0has had<\/p>\n
more than enough time to do right by their customers. They cannot evade the law<\/p>\n
or their responsibility to the people who paid for their coverage. Our<\/p>\n
residents deserve justice and Los Angeles County is taking action.”<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0In August, following similar action by the state, the county filed a<\/p>\n
lawsuit against State Farm insurance company, also alleging widespread<\/p>\n
mishandling of claims by policy holders in the Eaton and Palisades burn zones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Los Angeles County is investigating\u00a0Farmers Insurance Company’s handling of insurance claims filed by policy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7048,3557,7053,26,7065,7057,4300,7061,7060,7054,7052,7056,7055,7066,6217,48,7068,52,51,47,50,49,7063,7062,973,7069,100,7064,2083,611,1839,4201,6220,7070,7049,7050,7051,7059,7058,7067],"class_list":["post-459253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-7048","tag-am","tag-bill-handel","tag-breaking-news","tag-broadcasting","tag-conway","tag-eaton-fire","tag-gary-shannon","tag-gary-and-shannon","tag-gary-hoffmann","tag-handel","tag-john-ken","tag-john-and-ken","tag-john-kobylt","tag-kfi","tag-la","tag-la-fires","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-radio","tag-los-angeles-talk-radio","tag-media","tag-mo-kelly","tag-news","tag-newstalk","tag-oc","tag-orange-county","tag-palisades-fire","tag-radio","tag-radio-station","tag-santa-ana-winds","tag-stay-connected","tag-stimulating","tag-talk","tag-talk-radio","tag-tim-conway","tag-wild-fire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}