After New York Times exposé on secret insurer deal, survivors say California can't afford another year of failed oversight.

ALTADENA, Calif., Nov. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires on Thursday urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to call for the resignation of California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, following a front-page New York Times report revealing that Lara privately struck a deal with insurers allowing them to drop tens of thousands of policyholders ahead of the Los Angeles fires.

The New York Times investigation, based on internal state documents and communications, found that in 2023 Lara struck a secret deal with insurance companies that incentivized them to dump tens of thousands of policyholders in exchange for future rate hikes. The deal was sold to the public as a way to keep people out of the state's high-cost, low-benefit FAIR Plan, but just the opposite happened. FAIR Plan nearly doubled, and many families lost coverage just months before the Los Angeles fires.

At a press conference in Altadena, survivors point to this and their own experience to say that California now faces two crises: families who can no longer buy or renew insurance, and those who still have coverage but cannot access the benefits they've already paid for. Both failures, survivors said, fall under Lara's leadership — and now sit on the governor's desk.

Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network and a former deputy mayor of Los Angeles, said:

"Families can no longer buy or renew coverage, and those who still have it can't access the benefits they've already paid for. Californians can't afford another year of failed oversight. This crisis now sits on the governor's desk. Governor Newsom should call for Commissioner Lara to resign and install leadership that enforces the law and restores public trust."

A Department of Angels report found that 70 percent of insured Eaton and Palisades survivors face systemic underinsurance and delays and denials blocking their recovery. A second Department of Angels report, released in October 2025, found that more than eight in ten Los Angeles fire survivors remain displaced, with most expected to lose their temporary housing coverage within months. With coverage expiring in real time, families are being forced out of rentals now — a slow-motion disaster unfolding as state leaders fail to act. Survivors described widespread, needless suffering among tens of thousands of Los Angeles fire survivors — families still displaced, underinsured, or denied the benefits they've paid for.

Branislav Kecman, an Eaton Fire survivor, said his family paid premiums to State Farm for 12 years before being dropped just months before the fire. The cancellation forced them onto the state's FAIR Plan, which costs more and covers less. 

"That was painful enough," he said. "But what's truly devastating is learning that our own Insurance Commissioner secretly cut a deal that encouraged insurers to drop families like ours. We thought we could trust the system. We never imagined we'd be betrayed by the very person elected to protect us."

Jill Spivack, a longtime Pacific Palisades resident and State Farm policyholder whose home burned in the Palisades Fire, said what began as heartbreak has turned into outrage.

"After the fire, I thought we were protected — we'd paid State Farm for 25 years. But the real disaster was the endless maze of delays and denials. I had to put my business on hold just to fight for what we'd already paid for. Governor Newsom, your words gave us hope. Now we need your actions to make that hope real. Californians deserve an Insurance Commissioner who protects families, not the insurers doing the most harm."

Consumer Watchdog Executive Director Carmen Balber said Lara's secret deal exposed a crisis of leadership that can only be resolved by the Governor. 

"When the regulator becomes the industry's business partner, consumers lose," she said. "Commissioner Lara's deal with insurers gave them a reason to abandon California families and double the size of the FAIR Plan. Despite Lara's promises, insurance companies will get big rate hikes but don't have to sell a single new policy in wildfire-risk areas. Governor Newsom must step in and appoint a commissioner who will stand up to the insurance industry, enforce the law, and get consumers the benefits they've paid for."

Survivors warned that Los Angeles stands on the edge of a second catastrophe — one of permanent displacement. Lara has approved billion-dollar rate hikes for the state's largest insurer, State Farm, while 82 percent of its policyholders report negative claims experiences.

A Los Angeles Times analysis found that five major California wildfires between 2017 and 2020 destroyed 22,500 homes – and by 2025, only 38 percent had been rebuilt. The Times identified insurance as the single biggest factor determining recovery: when insurance paid promptly, families rebuilt; when it didn't, most never recovered.

Andrew Wessels, smoke-damage survivor and strategy director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, said:

"When insurance fails, recovery fails, and right now the L.A. recovery is stalled as a result of Commissioner Lara's failures. Families are draining retirement accounts and maxing out credit cards just to keep a roof over their heads. People who paid insurance premiums faithfully for decades have been abandoned by their insurers and by their government."

The Eaton Fire Survivors Network, representing more than 8,500 Californians, has documented nearly 500 firsthand accounts of insurer misconduct and delivered a five-step enforcement plan to Commissioner Lara.. Every elected official representing the Eaton and Palisades fire zones — including Senators Sasha Renée Pérez and Ben Allen, Assembly members John Harabedian and Jacqui Irwin, Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Mayor Karen Bass, and Altadena Town Council President Victoria Knapp — has joined survivors' call for accountability.

"California has some of the nation's strongest consumer protection laws," Chen said. "Commissioner Lara simply fails to enforce them. When survivors, civic leaders, and consumers all say the same thing and the Commissioner still refuses to act, the problem isn't public pressure. It's failed leadership."

Brandon Lamar, President of the Pasadena NAACP and founder of Project Passion, who has led the creation of the Dena Relief Drive and a free store of goods for displaced survivors, said the stakes extend beyond the burn zones.

"This isn't just about survivors," said Lamar. "It's about every Californian who pays an insurance premium and expects a promise kept. When regulators fail, every homeowner, renter, and business owner is at risk. When leadership is restored, everyone benefits."

In closing, Chen added:

"Let our Los Angeles experience be a warning to every Californian. Our entire housing market will collapse if families can't buy or renew insurance, and if those who have it can't get the benefits they've paid for. California cannot afford another year of Ricardo Lara. We call on Governor Newsom to act now: urge Commissioner Lara to resign, and install new leadership that enforces the law and rebuilds a functioning insurance market."

Further reading and documentation

Eaton Fire Survivors Network: Urgent CDI Actions to Stop Ongoing Insurer Misconduct
Details five enforcement steps the Department of Insurance could take now to end illegal delays and denials, actions Lara has failed to take and that a new insurance commissioner can implement on day one to restart recovery and rebuild an insurance system that every Californian can trust.

Californians Demand Accountability: lararesign.org
A public record of Commissioner Ricardo Lara's failures, from secret insurer deals and regulatory favors to luxury travel with industry executives. See Lara in his own words, review the investigations, and add your name to the growing call for Governor Newsom to act immediately. Each signature amplifies the demand for accountability and the leadership we deserve.

Messages to Governor Newsom and Commissioner Lara: Voices From Californians
Hundreds of Californians have already sent personal messages through lararesign.org. Their words reveal the anger, heartbreak and urgency behind the growing demand for change:

• "Newsom: DON'T MESS WITH FIRE SURVIVORS. Stop claiming you're protecting us, and do your job."
• "Lara, resign! You're supposed to protect consumers, not insurance company profits. Shame, shame, shame."
• "Repeated decisions by the Governor and the Commissioner show you're putting insurers ahead of the people who voted for you. Both of you are for sale."
• "We will never forget what has happened to us and to our community. You both have lost our trust and support. We request your resignation Commissioner Lara."
• "Resign is the moderate option. The alternative is prison."
• "Something smells rotten in California: it's Newsom and Lara in bed with the insurance companies."
• "You want to run for President? Ricardo will be your undoing. The Palisades will never support you unless you clean up this mess."
• "My neighbors in their 80s had their insurance canceled two months before the fire. They had no choice but to move back into their smoke-damaged home. Shame on you."
• "We lost everything and are fighting our insurer for what we paid for. You both have failed California families."

Each week of inaction pushes L.A. survivors deeper into loss, and leaves every Californian less protected. 

The decision Governor Newsom makes now will shape not only Los Angeles's recovery, but whether Californians can ever again trust our insurance system. Read more and add your own voice at lararesign.org.

Event Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/2Kf4mqE1Vgg?si=4cYVZcqGWXwoDT_s
Event Photos (will keep updating): efsurvivors.net/larapresser
Public Petition: lararesign.org

All media, community partners, and the public are welcome to use and share these assets with credit to the Eaton Fire Survivors Network.

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SOURCE Consumer Watchdog