Los Angeles, CA—Today Consumer Watchdog launched the first episode of a new investigative podcast series, “Smoke & Mirrors: Investigating Home Insurance Abuses,” exposing how large insurance companies deny consumers the benefits they are owed in the wake of disasters. The series uncovers a web of little-known subcontractors and unseen technology that facilitate claims delays, lowballed payouts and denials, and offers advice on what consumers can do about it.
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“This series uncovers home insurance industry tactics and empowers wildfire survivors to fight for what they lost,” said Justin Kloczko, who produced the podcast for Consumer Watchdog, a California-based nonprofit.
Over the course of the podcast Kloczko talks to people affected by this year’s Los Angeles wildfires and past disasters. The first two episodes of the podcast spotlight the experiences of recent and past wildfire survivors who have been unable to return to standing homes because of contamination that insurance companies are refusing to pay to fix.
In the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires many homeowners are learning what it means for insurance companies to lowball, delay and deny claims payments. A survey of 2,335 Los Angeles fire survivors just released by the Department of Angels found that 8 in 10 Altadena residents, and 9 in 10 Pacific Palisades residents, have not been able to return to their homes. In general, those with standing homes report “far worse” experiences with their insurance companies than those whose homes were lost, because they are likelier to have to fight to get information and to get claims approved. Roughly 1 in 4 survivors want contamination testing of their homes and have not been able to obtain it.
The series includes narrative storytelling, interviews with experts and attorneys, and draws on court records to paint a picture of how many insurance companies are not meeting their obligations to policyholders.
In Episode 1, we present ten tips for policyholders on getting smoke damage claims paid from those who know best: folks who have gone through it. The podcast interviews fire survivors who have banded together to fight back against insurance company abuses, public adjusters who advocate on behalf of policyholders to get claims paid, attorneys who litigate in court against insurance companies, and experts in toxins and testing.
In episode 2, we’ll pull the curtain back on the testing and cleaning companies that insurance companies send in after a wildfire strikes and a home is left standing. Homeowners share how these subcontractors do not adequately test for toxins and contamination in their smoke damaged homes, and fail to clean up contamination once it is found.
“Once you file a claim, in come industrial hygienists to perform testing of toxins, and remediation companies to do clean up,” said Kloczko. “But virtually all of them mainly work for insurance companies. Too often, these entities are instruments to underpay and under clean homes.”
“When the insurance company chooses all the vendors, uses those vendors to limit the scope of work, and then uses those vendors’ alleged certifications and expertise to deny you payment on your choice of vendors, then how is a homeowner supposed to remediate their home?” said Karen Girard, an Eaton Fire survivor who’s been battling Farmers. “And what is the value of insurance? Because it’s not actually paying to remediate your home.”
And in episode 3, we’ll trace how big data, and increasingly artificial intelligence, has come to shape every aspect of an insurance policy.
“Algorithms now control your policy limits, set your premiums, determine rebuild costs, and decide how at-risk homes are to fires,” said Kloczko.
For more about the series, visit ConsumerWatchdog.org.
Episode 1 is accompanied by a report and tip guide, “Lowball: What Fire Survivors Want You To Know About Insurance Claims,” that can be downloaded here.
