Eaton Fire survivors joined state and local lawmakers Monday to demand the California Department of Insurance take immediate action to speed up financial relief and hold insurers accountable after months of delays and claim denials.
The news conference also highlighted Assembly Bill 238, legislation that allows disaster-impacted homeowners to pause mortgage payments for up to one year while they recover and rebuild.
“Behind every delayed insurance claim is a family forced to wait in limbo,” Victoria Knapp, chair of the Altadena Town Council, said in a statement. “Survivors of the Eaton Fire deserve to be treated as people, not numbers. We’re asking the Department of Insurance to stand with Altadena and NOT with insurers to deliver justice for those who’ve already lost so much.”
Assemblyman John Harabedian, D-Pasadena, authored the mortgage forbearance bill and attended the news conference Monday.
“Our responsibility is clear: to protect survivors, give them the time and resources to rebuild their home and their lives, and ensure they can do so with security and peace of mind,” Harabedian said in a statement. “That’s why I am leading this effort — calling on the California Department of Insurance to act swiftly and decisively, enforce the law, expedite claims, and provide every protection available — so families can recover with dignity and hope for the future.”
Survivors and officials highlighted what they called urgent reforms:
- expedite the State Farm Market Conduct Exam;
- guarantee smoke coverage under the FAIR Plan;
- require transparency in loss estimates; and
- make the Insurance Department’s complaint process transparent.
Fire survivors and officials also called for a stop to unlawful cuts to temporary housing benefits that residents use to remain housed during rebuilding.
“We paid our premiums faithfully for decades, trusting insurers to protect us,” Joy Chen, Eaton Fire Survivors Network co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Now they’re using illegal delays and denials to profit from our pain. Families are maxing out credit cards, draining savings, and living in contaminated homes. We call on the California Department of Insurance to stand with survivors, not with the insurers breaking the law.”
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and State Farm issued statements following the news conference.
“Our goal at State Farm is to work with customers to resolve any of their concerns,” according to the company. “We seek to provide every customer all benefits to which they are entitled within the terms of the insurance policy. State Farm customers are being helped by our teams on the ground in Los Angeles County and an overwhelming majority are satisfied with our service.”
State Farm has received over 13,000 claims so far related to the LA wildfires and paid over $4.5 billion to California customers, more than any other insurer, according to the company.
Lara said the department’s “goal aligns with fire survivors: we want individuals to recover on their own terms.”
The insurance commissioner noted measures he has implemented “to hold insurance companies accountable,” including “a thorough investigation into State Farm’s wildfire claims, formed a Smoke Claims Task Force to create statewide remediation standards and initiated a legal action against the FAIR Plan for its mismanagement of smoke claims.
“The severity of our insurance crisis and the suffering of countless Californians require us to get this right,” Lara said. “We must empower our Department’s experts to do their jobs to protect consumers, and that is my intention.”
Other local officials attended the EFSN news conference Monday in Altadena.
“The Eaton Fire devastated residents in my district and exposed glaring issues in the insurance market,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a statement. “Too many continue to face undue claims delays, underpayments, and denials that compound their hardship and loss. Continued vigilance in oversight and enforcement are vital, and new reforms are needed from our state regulators and legislature.”
State Sen. Sasha Pérez, D-Pasadena, has also been vocal in recent months about “hundreds of insurance complaints by Eaton Fire victims,” she said in a statement.
“These residents should not be pushed aside during their greatest time of need,” Pérez said. “Insurance companies should not be allowed to raise rates before we get answers into how they are treating their policyholders following this disaster. I will continue to fight alongside my constituents for the fair and timely resolution of their insurance claims.”
Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, whose District 42 includes communities devastated in the Pacific Palisades wildfire, said in a statement, “While we cannot undo what nature has done, we can attempt to ease the pain of those suffering from nature’s wrath.”
Irwin added that “AB 238 minimizes the financial impact through temporary mortgage relief and AB 493 assures victims that banks are required to pay interest on money deposited as a result of insurance payouts. In addition to these legislative efforts, we need the Department of Insurance to step up and enforce the law to protect victims from further harm caused by insurers.”
State Farm, California’s largest residential insurer, is seeking an 11% rate increase following a 17% emergency rate hike that a judge approved in May.
Insurance Department officials did not respond to a request for comment.
A report detailing EFSN’s call to action for insurance officials is available online.
Updated Aug. 26, 2025, 2:56 p.m.
