Over $4 billion in LA fire claims distributed, more to come

From CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay:

Insurance companies have paid out $4.2 billion in claims so far to survivors of the Los Angeles County fires, the state Insurance Department said Thursday.

That figure includes home, business, living expenses and other disaster-related claims related to the Eaton and Palisades fires, the department said, citing data from insurance companies and the FAIR Plan, which is a pool of insurers that offers fire insurance to customers who can’t get it elsewhere because some companies have paused writing or canceled insurance policies in certain high-risk areas. 

Affected property owners have filed 31,210 claims — 14,417 of which have been partially paid, the department said. 

Part of the point of letting the public know how much has been paid out so far is so they know that under the law, claimants are eligible for some advance funds without having to file itemized claims, spokesperson Michael Soller said. For some people, it could be “life-changing to know that they know they can get money up front,” he added.

Insurance companies have been present at workshops held by the Insurance Department for fire victims in Santa Monica and Altadena over the past couple of weeks, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara told CalMatters recently. “People were walking out of these workshops with checks in hand,” he said.

Amy Bach, executive director of the consumer advocacy nonprofit United Policyholders, said her group has been fielding questions and concerns from various FAIR Plan customers who report both good and poor claim services. “It really depends on the quality of the adjuster that gets assigned and how overloaded they are,” she said.

Cal Fire has designated the Eaton and Palisades fires, both of which started Jan. 7 and are almost fully contained, as the second and third most destructive wildfires in state history, behind the Camp Fire in Butte County in 2018, which killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures.

The Eaton fire in the Pasadena area killed 17 people and destroyed more than 9,400 structures, and the Palisades fire in the Pacific Palisades killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures. 

The California Fair Political Practices Commission wrapped up its probe into a nonprofit that critics said violated contribution limits, writes CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff. The political ethics watchdog group, however, concluded earlier this week that the group acted in accordance with state rules.

Govern For California coordinated with a statewide network of chapter organizations to donate millions of dollars to dozens of legislative candidates, including Assemblymember Robert Rivas, a Salinas Democrat who ultimately ascended to become Assembly Speaker.

After CalMatters reported about the nonprofit in 2022, a former labor union leader filed a complaint against Govern For California, arguing that it enabled donors to bypass contribution limits and pushed the boundaries of state law. But the nonprofit said it acted similarly to how unions organized with their local affiliates. 

After first rejecting the complaint, the fair practices commission revisited the inquiry. More than two years later, the commission said it is “closing this matter without further action because the allegations have been disproven.”

While Govern For California members celebrated the decision, a former head of the commission labeled the results “kind of namby-pamby, without any deep explanation.”

Read more here.

Southern California Edison customers are footing the bill for the role the utility company played in a deadly 2017 fire that killed two people, and its resulting debris flow that killed an additional 23.

As CalMatters’ Malena Carollo explains, the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved a settlement that allows the company to raise rates to pay off $1.7 billion in claims stemming from the Thomas Fire and the Montecito Debris Flows that followed.

Investigators identified Southern California Edison equipment as the cause of the fire, which burned more than 280,000 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

The agreement between Edison and Cal Advocates, which represents customers before the commission, is about $1 billion less than what Edison originally requested to be passed on to customers. The company also agreed to set aside $50 million in shareholder funds for wildfire mitigation costs, which customers will not be responsible for.

Edison equipment is currently under scrutiny by investigators who are looking into the cause of the current Eaton Fire.

Read more here.

Kaiser workers in Southern California are striking, demanding cost-of-living raises and restored pensions. CalMatters local news fellow Joe Garcia and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on how lawmakers are urging Kaiser to resolve the dispute as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

And check out another video by CalMatters climate reporter Alejandro Lazo and Robert about California suspending its diesel truck regulations due to the Donald Trump administration. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.