Senator Perez, thank you so much for making time for us. Of course, happy to be here. You’ve been calling for an investigation into State Farm given what happened in your district with what the California Insurance commissioner laid out this week. I mean, is that what you were looking for? Absolutely. I think the findings of the report. Proved what fire survivors have been saying for the past year, which is that State Farm was not treating them fairly. They were continuing to delay claims without justification, continuing to deny requests for smoke and ash remediation, and really causing harm to communities. Do you think the potential suspension of State Farm’s ability to do business in California. Is that something that you would be OK with? Well, obviously I know there’s *** lot of concerns about um accessibility in the insurance market, right? Especially given that there’s been *** homeowners insurance crisis that the state’s been facing. I think if we are going to pause on State Farm’s ability to be able to operate in the state that we also need to go after their ability to write new auto insurance policies because we know that’s where they make *** majority of their money to begin with. State Farm is saying that that threat to, I mean, suspend their ability to do business here. Would be politically motivated and terrible for customers. How do you respond to that? Um, I think that we need to hold the largest insurer in the state accountable when we see repeated violations, they looked at something like 200 claims, and in those 200 claims, almost half of them had violations. That’s utterly unacceptable if we cannot hold one of the largest insurers accountable. For mishandling fire claims, then I don’t know what we’re doing as *** state. This is part of our responsibility. The spokesman for State Farm also said the state’s insurance market is dysfunctional. I mean, how much of what has transpired to this point do you believe falls on the insurance commissioner and the Department of Insurance? I mean, look, I, I personally think that what we’ve seen happen here and how State Farm has treated disaster victims. Unfortunately is not unusual. We’ve seen this time and time again all over the country, and we’ve heard from fire survivors across the country that have had the same experiences with State Farm. So this isn’t new. So when they try to put the blame on the state of California to say that’s why they weren’t able to deliver for fire victims, I just think that’s absolutely false. But was giving State Farm *** rate increase from the Department of Insurance. Was that the right move? That was not the right move, and I was very vocal in saying that we needed to tie the results of this market conduct examination to the approval of that emergency rate increase, and I continued to press on that point and fortunately that rate increase was still approved and frankly that was unacceptable. Why would we give *** rate increase to *** company that is continuing to mistreat its customers? There needs to be accountability. Could that be considered *** dysfunctional aspect of this insurance market? Obviously it’s, it’s *** market in which only *** few companies now at this point can even operate in. I mean, your thoughts on, on that? I mean, I’ll be honest with you, yes, I do think that that’s *** part of the, of our dysfunction within the system that we would even allow for *** corporation to abuse its power and then reward them. Like that that whole system of accountability, the regulators that we have here in the state are supposed to ensure that these companies are following the law. If any one of my constituents doesn’t make payment on their insurance, they lose coverage. So when State Farm does it to hundreds, thousands of its customers, they get *** small $2 million penalty. I mean, it’s laughable. What do you think needs to happen? In the near term moving forward, well, I think it would be my preference that the Department of Insurance come in and really take over the handling of these cases to make sure that all fire survivors are getting their claims resolved immediately, especially after these findings. In addition to that, I I think that the Department of Insurance needs to look at more claims past the 200 and something claims they looked at so that we can see that penalty amount be increased. Right now, *** $2 million fine does not match the crimes that have been committed, in my opinion. We talk about this in numbers, but these are fire survivors. Those dollars have *** direct impact on whether or not somebody is able to recover, somebody is able to go home. I know people that were living out of their cars desperate with their children. It is utterly unacceptable. State Farm in their statement noted that they’ve paid out $5.6 billion. Dollars they are fulfilling claims. How would you respond to that? Certainly, and that is the case, and there are folks that we’ve seen get results in the process of of seeking out their claims and our office has been incredibly involved in many of those cases. That is how we became aware of this issue is because we had individuals who were customers of State Farm. Reaching out to my office for assistance with navigating their claims process, but we still have hundreds of people that have not seen their claims resolved. That’s *** problem. So yes, it’s good that folks got results, but we still have *** whole population of people who still desperately need help and people who weren’t on State Farm. I mean from your understanding. Are they not having these kinds of problems with other insurers? I will say that there are other insurance companies where there have been challenges as well, and even with our own, the fair plan has also presented *** challenge too for for its customers, and there are insurance companies that have done very well too. I mean we’ve heard really positive stories, so I’m I’m very mindful of this, that this isn’t just about *** single company or *** single corporation. But really in my opinion about making sure that we have laws in place to enforce that these companies are treating their customers fairly and equitably. Just taking *** step back from all of this, I mean, right before the fires broke out. The California Ins insurance commissioner had just implemented this sweeping set of regulations that were meant to make it easier for the insurance market to come back to California with catastrophe modeling with negotiations around what wildfire areas were being covered. Are we seeing the effects of that, or where does that effort really stand in all of this? Uh, you know, I know that there have been efforts to try to improve and stabilize the insurance market here in California. I, I personally, as somebody that’s new to the legislator legislature, feel as though there has been more of an emphasis on protecting industry rather than protecting the consumer and what I have seen. Is that insurance companies are consistently delaying and denying payments out to those that have survived *** disaster, which is utterly ridiculous. It’s one of the most fundamental things that you depend on your insurance company being able to do after you’ve paid into them for decades in some cases so I, I, I do think that there is *** lot. More work that we need to do as *** legislature um and you know, frankly it’s, it’s past time for us to implement new laws to hold this industry accountable. Is it tough though with the time that we’re in right now? I mean, is everything kind of on hold because insurance commissioner Lada has just months left in office. There’s *** whole election for *** brand new insurance commissioner. Is this sort of on ice right now? I, I mean, I certainly don’t see it that way. I’ve been very aggressively pushing forward my own legislation related to creating penalties for insurance companies that are not paying out their claims in *** timely manner, making sure that, uh, customers have access to all loss estimates. So for me, I am very motivated to respond in this moment. It doesn’t really matter who is the insured. Commissioner and I make sure to make all of my colleagues in the legislature very aware of this. Even when we initially called for the market conduct examination, I went out of my way to sit down with my colleagues, to show them evidence, to show them letters from fire survivors in my district so they could understand the seriousness of the situation. Do you feel the sense of urgency from them? I do think that there’s been *** huge shift even in. The year and *** half years that I’ve been in the legislature, when I first wrote that letter, there were only 2 members that signed on to it with me. It was Assembly Member Shade Al Hawari, whose mother lives in Altadena, and Senator Ben Allen, who represents the Palisades. It was just the 3 of us, and in that time, as I’ve continued to bring fire survivors up to the legislature, it is really, I think, opened people’s eyes to this issue. Is there anything else you think we should know? Um, you know, I would just say that I think it’s incredibly important that we continue to center fire survivors, these customers, their stories, their experiences as we work on this legis legislation and, you know, as we continue to explore solutions to the crisis that the state’s been facing. I, I worry sometimes that the discussions that we have up here because Sacramento, you know, is far away from *** lot of our major cities that it can be very disconnected to what’s actually happening on the ground to everyday people and I do think it’s really incumbent upon us as legislators to make sure that we’re connecting with folks on the ground to understand what people need. Senator Perez, we really are grateful for your insight. Thank you thank you.

Pasadena State Senator says State Farm must be held accountable for wildfire claim issues | California Politics 360

Updated: 8:25 AM PDT May 10, 2026

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As California seeks millions in fines against State Farm for allegedly mishandling wildfire claims, a state senator representing Los Angeles area wildfire victims says state regulators should do more to hold the company accountable. “We still have a whole population of people who desperately need help,” State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, said in an interview on California Politics 360. Pérez had been calling for an investigation into the state’s largest insurer for its handling of claims following the devastating wildfires. Pérez said the move by the California Department of Insurance to investigate and seek fines was “absolutely” what she had hoped.State Farm violated the law hundreds of times in a sampling of 220 cases, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said. The maximum penalty amount allowed by law would be around $4 million if State Farm is found to be “willful” in violating state law. Regulators also want to prohibit State Farm, California’s largest home insurer, from writing new policies for a year in the state.”The findings of the report proved what fire survivors had been saying for the past year, which is that State Farm was not treating them fairly, they were continuing to delay claims without justification, continuing to deny requests for smoke and ash remediation and really causing harm to communities,” she said. State Farm said in a statement earlier this week that it rejected any suggestions it “engaged in a general practice of mishandling or intentionally underpaying wildfire claims” and called the state’s insurance market “dysfunctional.” The company said it has paid out more than $5.7 billion on 13,700 auto and home insurance claims related to the fires.”The threat to suspend State Farm General’s ability to serve customers over primarily administrative and procedural errors is a reckless, politically motivated attack that could ultimately cripple California’s homeowners insurance market,” the statement said. “Obviously I know there are a lot of concerns about accessibility in the insurance market,”Pérez said in response. “I think we need to hold the largest insurer in the state accountable.” “I think If we’re going to pause State Farm’s ability to be able to operate in this state, we also need to go after their ability to write auto insurance policies because we know that’s where they make the majority of their money,” she said. When asked if the California Department of Insurance is responsible for the issues with State Farm, Pérez pointed to other parts of the country that have had issues with the insurance company. “This isn’t new,” she said. “So when they try to put the blame on the state of California to say that’s why they weren’t able to deliver for fire victims, I think that’s absolutely false.” The California Department of Insurance last year approved a rate increase for State Farm amid complaints against the company’s handling of wildfire claims. Pérez said that was not the right move. “We needed to tie the results of this market conduct examination to the emergency rate increase,” Pérez said. “Frankly, that was unacceptable.” Pérez said the California Department of Insurance should take over State Farm’s cases to ensure wildfire survivor claims are being resolved immediately. She also suggested the department look at more cases beyond the 200 analyzed as part of the department’s investigation. “A $2 million fine does not match the crime that have been committed in my opinion,” she said. “We talk about this in numbers, but these are fire survivors. Those numbers have a direct impact on whether somebody is able to recover, if somebody is able to go home.” The Associated Press contributed to this report. KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.

As California seeks millions in fines against State Farm for allegedly mishandling wildfire claims, a state senator representing Los Angeles area wildfire victims says state regulators should do more to hold the company accountable.

“We still have a whole population of people who desperately need help,” State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, said in an interview on California Politics 360.

Pérez had been calling for an investigation into the state’s largest insurer for its handling of claims following the devastating wildfires. Pérez said the move by the California Department of Insurance to investigate and seek fines was “absolutely” what she had hoped.

State Farm violated the law hundreds of times in a sampling of 220 cases, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said. The maximum penalty amount allowed by law would be around $4 million if State Farm is found to be “willful” in violating state law. Regulators also want to prohibit State Farm, California’s largest home insurer, from writing new policies for a year in the state.

“The findings of the report proved what fire survivors had been saying for the past year, which is that State Farm was not treating them fairly, they were continuing to delay claims without justification, continuing to deny requests for smoke and ash remediation and really causing harm to communities,” she said.

State Farm said in a statement earlier this week that it rejected any suggestions it “engaged in a general practice of mishandling or intentionally underpaying wildfire claims” and called the state’s insurance market “dysfunctional.” The company said it has paid out more than $5.7 billion on 13,700 auto and home insurance claims related to the fires.

“The threat to suspend State Farm General’s ability to serve customers over primarily administrative and procedural errors is a reckless, politically motivated attack that could ultimately cripple California’s homeowners insurance market,” the statement said.

“Obviously I know there are a lot of concerns about accessibility in the insurance market,”Pérez said in response. “I think we need to hold the largest insurer in the state accountable.”

“I think If we’re going to pause State Farm’s ability to be able to operate in this state, we also need to go after their ability to write auto insurance policies because we know that’s where they make the majority of their money,” she said.

When asked if the California Department of Insurance is responsible for the issues with State Farm, Pérez pointed to other parts of the country that have had issues with the insurance company.

“This isn’t new,” she said. “So when they try to put the blame on the state of California to say that’s why they weren’t able to deliver for fire victims, I think that’s absolutely false.”

The California Department of Insurance last year approved a rate increase for State Farm amid complaints against the company’s handling of wildfire claims. Pérez said that was not the right move.

“We needed to tie the results of this market conduct examination to the emergency rate increase,” Pérez said. “Frankly, that was unacceptable.”

Pérez said the California Department of Insurance should take over State Farm’s cases to ensure wildfire survivor claims are being resolved immediately. She also suggested the department look at more cases beyond the 200 analyzed as part of the department’s investigation.

“A $2 million fine does not match the crime that have been committed in my opinion,” she said. “We talk about this in numbers, but these are fire survivors. Those numbers have a direct impact on whether somebody is able to recover, if somebody is able to go home.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.