California wildfire survivor rips insurers, state government for failing victims’ recovery
A survivor of the devastating Eaton Fire blasted state government for a lack of oversight in ensuring insurance firms paid out for recovery efforts in fiery testimony before California lawmakers Wednesday.
Joy Chen, executive director of the Every Fire Survivor’s Network, tearfully recounted her traumatic experience with the January 2025 wildfire, which left 19 people dead while ravaging Altadena.
“There were no firefighters in Altadena that night, and so we became our own fire brigade,” Chen, a former deputy mayor of Los Angeles, said at the State Capitol in Sacramento. “When the fire advanced on people’s homes, we rushed over and put out spot fires with buckets of water from pools. It was chaotic and terrifying.”
Joy Chen, center, Executive Director of Eaton Fire Survivors Network Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Her testimony came as lawmakers this week began exploring ways to mitigate future wildfires and help pay for recovery costs, after the Eaton and Palisades fires tore through the LA area last year.
Chen called out not just the insurance industry but also the state government for failing survivors after the fires.
As neighbors discussed their experiences handling insurance claims, she began to notice that recovery efforts depended heavily on homeowners’ carriers, calling out State Farm in particular. The community then appealed to California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara for aid.
“We asked him for help, and we asked him, ‘If we break the law, we go to prison. Why would a company violating the law on a massive scale be rewarded with a billion-dollar rate hike?’” she testified.
Joy Chen provided teary testimony on what happened with the Eaton fire. California Senate
After some pressure, Lara announced a review of insurance claim cases.
“The findings were staggering: 398 violations across just 220 sample claims. Everything survivors have been saying for 16 months was confirmed,” Chen said.
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“But honestly, the findings were not just damning of State Farm, they’re damning of the state government that has allowed all this misconduct to continue for 16 months.”
About 70% of insured Los Angeles fire survivors are experiencing delays, denials and underpayments derailing their recovery, she claimed.
Flames from the Eaton Fire burn a home on January 7, 2025. Getty Images
Two out of three wildfire survivors are still displaced, Chen noted, and complaints to the state insurance regulator are going nowhere.
“Credit cards are maxed. Retirement savings are gone. Mental health providers report rising suicidal ideation tied directly to financial stress and housing insecurity,” she said.
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The California Post contacted the state Department of Insurance for comment.
State Farm has fiercely denied wrongdoing, rejecting claims it systematically mishandled or underpaid wildfire survivors while accusing California’s insurance system of being “dysfunctional.”
A State Farm insurance company sign sits amid the rubble of a building destroyed by the Palisades Fire. AFP via Getty Images
“Wildfire survivors deserve real solutions — not a distorted picture of State Farm’s response. We strongly disagree with the Department’s characterization,” State Farm General Insurance Company said in a statement last week.
