Friday, August 15, 2025

Eaton Fire Survivors Continue to Target Multiple Insurers Over Alleged Bad Faith and Underinsurance

By ANDRÉ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

A growing wave of lawsuits by Eaton Fire survivors is targeting some of the nation’s largest insurance companies, with plaintiffs alleging that insurers withheld payments, denied legitimate claims, or left them severely underinsured after the Jan. 7 wildfire devastated parts of Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre.

“Insurance companies know they have the upper hand in dealing with policyholders,” said Eric Ratinoff, California wildfire insurance attorney on his website. “They delay payments, and sometimes they flat-out refuse to pay. All of these tactics are illegal in California.”

The fire, one of California’s most destructive conflagrations in modern history, burned 14,021 acres in and around Altadena — making it the second?most destructive wildfire in state history.

It destroyed 9,418 structures and damaged 1,073 more, killing 19 people. Over 100,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes.

Damages from the fire are estimated at nearly $27.5 million, leaving homeowners scrambling to file insurance claims.

But in many cases, local homeowners found companies slow to answer claims or downright refusing to pay out resulting in lawsuits.

The most recent filing came Wednesday, when attorneys at Singleton Schreiber LLP sued Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company on behalf of the Greer family, alleging the insurer refused to cover damages after smoke, ash, soot, and heavy metals contaminated their home.

According to the complaint, the family developed serious respiratory problems and was forced to pay both rent and their mortgage after being displaced.

The lawsuit claims Nationwide delayed payments for more than a month after the fire was contained, demanded excessive documentation, and treated the Greers “like adversaries rather than policyholders.” Singleton Schreiber partner Michelle Meyers said the case is intended to set a precedent for fair treatment of policyholders in catastrophic fire situations.

Nationwide has not commented specifically on the Greer lawsuit but issued a statement in the wake of the January fires:

“Our hearts go out to all those impacted by these devastating fires. Nationwide is here for our members as they work to recover… Claims teams are on standby to deploy to the heaviest impacted areas as soon as conditions allow.”

The Nationwide case is one of several lawsuits filed this year by Eaton Fire survivors against insurers. In April, ten victims of the Jan. 7 fires — including some from the Eaton burn area — sued the California FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, and ten major home insurers, including State Farm, Farmers, Mercury, and AAA, accusing them of denying or underpaying smoke-damage claims.

A FAIR Plan spokesperson, Hilary McLean, defended the company’s approach: “Our policy and approach to direct physical loss is consistent with other insurers. Our policy, like many others, requires direct physical loss for there to be coverage.”

In June, seven households from Altadena, Sierra Madre, and Pacific Palisades filed a separate lawsuit against State Farm, alleging they were “grossly underinsured” before the fires and unable to rebuild without incurring major debt. State Farm is also facing a state investigation into its claims handling for the Eaton and Palisades fires.

“We’re here to help our customers recover and we empathize with those who are rebuilding their lives,” State Farm said in a separate statement, adding that it has paid about $3.12 billion on approximately 12,500 fire-related claims and will cooperate with the state’s review.

Consumer attorneys spotlight systemic problems in wildfire insurance coverage, including disputes over what constitutes total loss, challenges in proving smoke contamination, and policies that fail to reflect soaring California reconstruction costs.

The lawsuits come as hundreds of Eaton Fire survivors remain displaced, many navigating both insurance disputes and the broader rebuilding process.

Southern California Edison, whose equipment has been linked to the fire’s ignition, faces dozens of separate suits from fire victims and public agencies.

“We hope this lawsuit sets a standard that this behavior… is unacceptable for an insurance company,” Meyers said.