This is the biggest week since the Eaton and Palisades fires. Two breakthroughs. Both driven by you. Both with the power to change the trajectory of our recovery.

 

 

First, TOMORROW (Saturday) is our Virtual Rebuilding Summit from 9 to 5. If you are even thinking about rebuilding, this is your one-stop, all-in-one day to get real answers online.

 

How can you close “the gap” between what insurance pays and what rebuilding actually costs? How can you save time and money and frustration, and make your home safer and stronger?  Get answers to the questions that have been keeping you up at night, from the top experts in our region. Tomorrow. Online. For free. Come to one session or come to them all.

 

👉 Register here: efsurvivors.net/rebuilding-summit

 

 

Now for the second piece of news.

 

Los Angeles County Counsel has officially opened an investigation into State Farm’s handling of Eaton and Palisades fire claims. Not a review. An investigation by the Consumer Fraud Division.

 

This is a seismic shift. And it only happened because of you.

 

 

Since January, our EFSN Discord has been overflowing with reports of insurer delays, denials, and underpayments. The State Farm channel had some of the most shocking stories. Meanwhile, the news showed the Insurance Commissioner, Ricardo Lara, was moving to grant State Farm a massive rate hike.

 

So we got to work.

 

Survivors shared nearly 500 firsthand accounts for The State Farm Files, and we mapped them to violations of California law (file here). 
 

At our six-month wildfire anniversary event, we wrote 1,500 postcards to Commissioner Lara, urging him to enforce the laws (photos here)!

In August, we stood with elected officials across Los Angeles and presented Lara with five urgent actions he could take immediately to end the delays and denials (photos here)!

 

Last week, Eaton and Palisades survivors together called for new leadership at the California Department of Insurance who will enforce consumer protection laws (photos here)!

 

 

And yet, Commissioner Lara has failed to act, and the illegal delays and denials have continued. Resulting in a stalled recovery. A staggering 70% of insured Eaton and Palisades survivors report delays and denials that are blocking our recovery. Seventy percent. 

The Department of Angels’ October report confirmed what we have been living for ten months: our regional recovery has stalled, and a primary reason is the failure of our insurance system. 
 

 

So when the state failed to act, we took our evidence to the County of Los Angeles. We brought all the receipts. And within three weeks, the county moved.

 

Huge thanks to Supervisor Kathryn Barger for stepping in and to Assistant County Counsel Scott Kuhn, who leads the Consumer Fraud Division and is spearheading this investigation.

 

 

From the Los Angeles Times article by Laurence Darmiento:

 

“We want State Farm to take care of its customers as soon as possible, because time is of the essence. We want residents to be able to get back in their homes and start the rebuilding process,” said Kuhn. “We certainly would like to avoid litigation and just have State Farm do right by its customers.”

 

Attorney Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog, explained the stakes. The county’s action is a civil investigation that can result in a court order changing insurer practices, refunds to consumers, and larger penalties. If criminal fraud is discovered, prosecutors can pursue it.

 

“State Farm is now in dangerous territory. Every denial of a survivor’s claim, every delay of a survivor’s claim can result in massive financial consequences for the company,” said Rosenfield.

 

Consumer advocates praised the county’s decision:

 

“In the absence of state leadership, today’s county investigation is a major step forward. It matters not only for Los Angeles fire survivors, but for every Californian who pays premiums and expects the protection they paid for when disaster strikes,” I said at last week’s news conference.

 

 

The county letter to State Farm headquarters demands all documents, reports, spreadsheets, databases, summaries, dashboards, and other records that track January 2025 wildfire claims. It includes communications with customers, documents submitted by policyholders, and outcomes of claims. It also seeks the company’s claims-handling policies, its guidelines for adjusters, and documents about its use of artificial intelligence.

 

“Altadena residents have already endured unimaginable loss and they should not have to fight their own insurance company to recover,” said Supervisor Barger. “The county has heard loud and clear from wildfire survivors that State Farm’s delays are standing in the way of rebuilding.”

 

See the full Los Angeles Times article here.

If you want to see County Counsel’s letter to State Farm, it is here.

 

EFSN’s The State Farm Files, nearly 500 firsthand accounts tied to the laws they show are being violated, is here.

 

 

You know what happened within hours of the investigation becoming public yesterday?

State Farm survivors who had been stuck for months started receiving phone calls. 

 

Suddenly, checks that could not be issued were ready to go. Suddenly, rebuilding costs that could not be updated were updated. Suddenly, the delays turned into movement.

 

This is why we keep pushing for accountability.

 

👉 If you received a call or update from State Farm in the last 24 hours, please reply to this email to give us the details. Every datapoint helps us track what is shifting.

 

 

And yes, this investigation could lead to criminal referrals. That is not exaggeration. When a company ignores legal deadlines for nearly ten months, and when those violations stack across hundreds of families, the penalties become enormous.

 

You could see injunctive relief requiring immediate payment of outstanding claims.
You could see reimbursement of premiums paid for years of service you did not receive.

 

A civil penalty of $2,500  per day for each violation. Multiply that across ten months. Then multiply that across hundreds of survivors. The numbers become massive.

 

 

 

Here’s what moves me most.

 

None of this happened because survivors stayed quiet. None of this happened because we tried to handle things alone and hoped for the best. This happened because you came together. You organized. You shared stories. You collected receipts. You spoke truth in rooms where truth had not been spoken in a very long time.

 

To continue the illegal delays and denials, State Farm and other insurers depend on survivors being isolated. They depend on survivors being overwhelmed, grieving, and too exhausted to fight. They depend on people not comparing experiences or sharing information. They depend on the silence that trauma often brings.

 

But that is not who you are.

 

You showed them what a connected community looks like. You showed them what civic leadership looks like. You showed them what survivors can do when we stand together with our allies and refuse to be ignored.

 

Your courage made this happen.

 

And the world is beginning to see that survivors are not the victims of a broken system. We are the leaders pushing our region and our state toward something fairer and stronger.

 

We have more work ahead. But today, celebrate this victory. It is big. And it belongs to you.

 

Big rain is here! Stay dry. Stay indoors. And join me tomorrow at the Virtual Rebuilding Summit. I cannot wait to spend the day with you.

 

👉 Register here: efsurvivors.net/rebuilding-summit

 

Hugs,
Joy

 

P.S. One more thing you can do right now. If you are feeling fired up after this week’s news, here is one clear way to turn that energy into impact.

 

California still needs real insurance regulation. L.A. County’s investigation is a huge breakthrough, but it only covers State Farm. Families across Los Angeles are still battling delays and denials from multiple insurers. We need leadership at the Department of Insurance that enforces the laws on the books so every Californian can count on the coverage we pay for.

 

Join the call for new leadership here: lararesign.org

 

Please also help widen the circle. Here is a suggested post you can share:

 

 

And if you have a personal story about your insurer, please share it with your friends, at dinner parties, at the gym. Your stories are building the case for change.

 

Every new member strengthens our community.

They can sign up here: https://efsurvivors.net/newsletter