California Residents Slam Insurance Companies Over Lack of Support After Wildfires

Residents in California are criticizing insurance companies over the lack of support they have been receiving, months after the Los Angeles area wildfires occurred.

Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak and his wife, Julia, told CBS News that while they had managed to save their home, they “might lose it anyways” because what their insurance company is “offering to repair it is so low.”

While the Pollak’s have a policy that “covers $1 million for contents replacement and $1.3 million for structure replacement,” they accused their insurance company of “playing this game of musical adjusters” as a way to “buy time and put pressure on the claimants.”

“Having saved the house with my bare hands, we might lose it anyways because what they are offering to repair it is so low,” Joel explained.

Per the outlet, “thousands of insured homeowners” have expressed frustration that not only are they getting the “runaround to even get any support,” but that their insurance companies are “being stingy” with what homeowners “are rightfully owed.”:

It’s a frustration we are hearing from thousands of insured homeowners that their insurance companies are not only being stingy with what they are rightfully owed, but also just the runaround to even get any support after surviving these intense wildfires. So much so that even if their house is still standing, residents feel like they can’t afford a home to come back to.

Since the Pollaks saved their home from the wildfires at the beginning of this year, they have continued “to fight” with their insurance company and have “gone through three adjusters with State Farm.”

Per the outlet, after hiring an “outside adjuster,” the Pollaks discovered that “it would cost roughly $650,000 for repairs and $700,000 to replace the home’s contents,” while State Farm has an estimate of “around $63,000 with no repairs to their rear wall.”

Through an outside adjuster the Pollaks personally hired, they found it would cost roughly $650,000 for repairs and $700,000 to replace the home’s contents.

State Farm is estimating around $63,000 with no repairs to their rear wall, which, as Joel showed CBS News Los Angeles, has obvious damage from the fire.

“This is what you would do if your goal was to delay the process as much as possible and minimize your losses as an insurance company,” Julia told the outlet.

Breitbart News previously reported in February that Farmers Insurance had estimated that it would lose around $600 million as a result of the wildfires. Other insurance companies, such as Allstate Insurance, have previously been reported to have “quietly stopped selling new homeowner and business insurance” in California.

Breitbart News also reported in May 2023, State Farm made the decision to no longer allow people to submit new applications for homeowners insurance or  business insurance in the state, citing the “increased risk of wildfires.”