"A new report released this week highlights what experts describe as increasingly troubling trends in the insurance industry, with California homeowners hit especially hard. Industry experts say more claims are being closed without payment, and even when payments are approved, they're often delayed for months. Many report that payouts once expected to be in the hundreds of thousands have instead been slashed to just tens of thousands, all while premiums continue to rise."
""We fled down Lake Avenue, dodging power lines and tree branches," she recalled. "And here we are one year later, and our house remains frozen in time from January 7, with most of our belongings still marinated in that toxicity." Nixon said she had been a State Farm customer for 20 years, never missed a payment and never filed a claim, until the fire. She expected support. Instead, she said, the process has eroded her trust."
Nearly a year after the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, many homeowners remain unable to rebuild and face ongoing recovery obstacles. Insurers are increasingly closing claims without payment, delaying approved payouts for months, and cutting expected settlements from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands while premiums continue to increase. Homeowners describe adversarial, time-consuming claims processes that deepen trauma and require full-time advocacy to pursue benefits. One longtime policyholder reported lost trust after a previously spotless payment history became insufficient to secure timely support. A major insurer reported receiving over 13,500 claims and paying more than $5.1 billion in response.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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