Lowball: What Fire Survivors Want You To Know About Insurance Claims

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As of June 2025, all 165 standing homes from which testing data has been collected by the resident-led coalition Eaton Fire Residents United showed elevated levels of lead for which professional remediation was recommended.

Another resident-led organization, the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, submitted hundreds of testimonials to the insurance commissioner describing State Farm’s failure to meet its claims obligations to policyholders after the fires. Of the 51 smoke damage testimonials included, every single one cites problems with the company refusing or underpaying claims for testing and remediation.

And a survey recently conducted by the New York Times of Eaton and Pacific Palisades fire survivors, with more than 500 responses, found “a majority of those whose homes were still standing reported that their insurance companies had declined to pay for testing.”

Read the rest of the report here.

Justin Kloczko
Justin Kloczko
Justin Kloczko follows tech and privacy for Consumer Watchdog. He’s a recovering daily newspaper reporter whose work has also appeared in Vice, Daily Beast and KCRW.
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