Thursday, November 6, 2025

Fire Survivors to Demand State Insurance Commissioner’s Resignation at Thursday Gathering

[Eddie Rivera / Pasadena Now]

Group’s executive director cites New York Times investigation showing 50,000 policy cancellations as 80-90% of fire families remain displaced

[UPDATED] Fire survivors plan to gather at an Altadena bar Thursday morning to demand California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s immediate resignation, according to Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network. The demand follows a New York Times investigation revealing that insurance companies began mass dumping policies after Lara’s September 2023 deal, with 50,000 policies dropped before regulations were finalized.

“What timeline? Immediately!” Chen said when asked about the urgency of accountability measures during a Wednesday interview about the Thursday press conference.

According to the Eaton Fire Survivors Network fact sheet compiled for their Thursday press conference, four insurers dropped over 50,000 policies across 800+ ZIP codes between September 17, 2024 and January 6, 2025.

The New York Times investigation published November 1, which Chen referenced throughout an interview Wednesday with Pasadena Now, documented how insurers began canceling policies just eight days after Lara announced his September 2023 agreement that had promised relief for fire-zone residents.

According to the Eaton Fire Survivors Network fact sheet, Foremost Insurance began policy cancellations 8 days after Lara’s deal announcement. The timing of these cancellations has become central to survivors’ demands for accountability.

Historical data underscores the long-term nature of the crisis. Chen cited Los Angeles Times analysis showing poor recovery rates from previous disasters: “The Los Angeles Times has analyzed the five biggest fires between 2017 and 2020 and found that as of 2025, 5 to 8 years later, only 38% had been rebuilt. The number one factor and whether a family is able to rebuild or is forever sort of broken is insurance.”

Chen placed responsibility directly on the Insurance Commissioner.

“This recovery is stalled because insurance hasn’t paid out is because one person has enabled the failures of this system,” she said. “One person has been enabling illegal delays and denials. One person has been enabling mass dumping of people who had insurance, and that person is Ricardo Lara.”