U.S. Rep. John Garamendi stated on Wednesday that home insurance companies are attempting to take advantage of Californians following natural disasters, and regulators have not yet taken sufficient action to prevent it.

Garamendi, speaking at a panel discussion webinar on insurance regulation hosted by Unlocking America’s Future, said that the first commandment for insurance companies is to “pay as little, as late as possible.”

“Bottom line on this — it’s not new,” said Garamendi. “Claims denial has been around for a long, long time. My first experience with it was in 1991 in the Oakland Hills fire.”

Garamendi, who served as the state’s first elected insurance commissioner from 2003-2007, said the state’s current insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, has not held companies to task sufficiently and has not fully protected consumers. Lara has one year left in his term, but is facing calls to resign from wildfire victims.

“Without that as the principal marching order every day, every morning when the commissioner wakes up, the consumers are going to be on the short end of this,” he said.

Garamendi said he thinks the role of insurance commissioner is the second hardest in the state, behind the role of governor.

“The governor doesn’t have to enforce anything,” he said. “The commissioner must.”

Garamendi encouraged those who have been affected by rising premiums or undercoverage to reach out to the California Insurance Commissioner to enforce the Fair Claims and Practices Act.

“Put together a clear attack on the insurance industry,” he said.

Garamendi noted that there will be an election for a new California Insurance Commissioner next year, and that several of the hopefuls have already reached out to him seeking support. He said he has encouraged each one to prove to him that they are a “bulldog” on the issue and have a “reasonable level of intelligence” before they can secure his endorsement, as well as assembling a staff that is “willing to fight for the consumer.”

“The bottom line is the current commissioner has failed his obligation,” he said.

“If you want an easy job,” he continued later, “think about the treasury.”

Kyle Herrig of Unlocking America’s Future, who opened the call, said insurance premiums in the state have skyrocketed in recent years, and Weiss ratings show that claims are being rejected at record rates while companies make billions in profits with zero consumer protections.

Elisa Jacobs Nixon, an actress from Altadena, also served on the panel. Nixon said her community burned down in the wildfires earlier this year.

“We cannot even process this trauma because every day we are embattled,” she said of the insurance process.

Nixon said her family and house ultimately survived the ordeal, but despite being insured by State Farm for 40 years, they have not received coverage. She said State Farm is working hard at minimizing the damage and failing to provide sufficient support.

“We are living in a daily, exhausting adversarial process which has become a second full-time job for me, which deepens the trauma,” she said.

Martin Weiss, developer of the Weiss score for insurance firms, outlined six tactics used by insurance companies to avoid payments. Weiss said companies in California are avoiding paying for smoke damage, refusing to renew policies in the state, and that they are willing to add “injury after insult.”

“The cause, in our view, is a deliberate strategy by the insurance companies,” he said.