A California homeowner who lost their insurance coverage sued Liberty Mutual for “demonstratively false” business practices.

What’s happening?

The legal action requests damages as well as a change in how the company operates, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Maria Badin, who lives in Poway outside of San Diego, had her homeowners insurance canceled in November after 31 years with the company, which said her roof had “algae/mildew/mold/moss.” Liberty Mutual had taken “a long-distance aerial photo,” but a roofing company countered that the roof was “in incredible shape,” per the Chronicle.

Badin had to acquire a new policy through the state’s FAIR Plan. It costs more and covers less.

“The proposed class-action suit would include at least the 17,000 policyholders who lost their fire insurance coverage when a Liberty subsidiary refused to renew them late last year,” the newspaper reported.

Why is this important?

The Chronicle said such aerial photographs can be taken from 10,000 feet and mix up neighbors’ properties. Insurance companies use them to deny coverage in increasingly disaster-prone environments. (The 17,000 cancellations were not a result of aerial photography.)

The Los Angeles area wildfires came on the heels of 30,000 nonrenewals by State Farm. Homeowners whose coverage had not yet lapsed were granted a reprieve.

But this issue is plaguing communities across the country as increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather makes properties in Louisiana, Florida, and elsewhere more expensive to insure, partly because of the reinsurance costs that insurers pass on to customers.

“They’ve insured these homes for years with the same risks they had at the time,” attorney Michelle Meyers told the Chronicle. “It seems pretty clear that [the nonrenewal decision] was done for money.”

What’s being done about insurance coverage?

Homeowners who are told they will lose coverage should start asking questions. Making fire-resistant upgrades or clearing vegetation around a home can help you keep your policy, though it doesn’t always work.

In California, lawmakers have forced insurers to write more policies in fire-prone areas, but that may not keep them in areas they are vacating.

In the long term, reducing our reliance on the toxic heat-trapping gases that are warming the planet and driving extreme weather is the way to go. Governments and businesses must lead this green transition, but you can help by eating cleaner, using less plastic, and shopping secondhand.

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