A rare glimpse into the widespread, but hidden practice of insurers quietly altering wildfire home cleanup estimates before presenting final payouts to policyholders. In many cases, policyholders only see the final, reduced version without knowing about insurance company redlines. But by mere accident, policyholders are finding out what’s happening behind the scenes. We explore some new legislative solutions to the troubling practices by major insurance companies that are leaving wildfire survivors underpaid, exposed to toxic contamination, and trapped in months of delays.

Guests:

Justin Kloczko, host

Rossana Valverde, Altadena fire survivor

Claire Thompson, Altadena fire survivor

Sasha Renée Pérez, California State Senator

We explore a recent investigative story by the New York Times about how industry-favored loopholes crafted behind closed doors at the California Department of Insurance have undermined fire recovery, and how Los Angeles fire survivors are now calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to ask Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to resign.

Guests:

Branislav Kecman, Altadena fire survivor

Jill Spivack, Pacific Palisades, fire survivor

Zaire Calvin, Altadena fire survivor

Joy Chen, executive director, Eaton Fire Survivors Network

Carmen Balber, executive director, Consumer Watchdog

Jo Becker, reporter, New York Times

In this episode we examine how technology has increasingly taken over every aspect of our home insurance policies, from the algorithm that decides how much insurance we need when we sign up, to the algorithm that determines what it'll cost to rebuild after a disaster, to the ones that set your fire risk score and decide how much companies get to charge for future disasters. The data that feeds this technology is often incorrect and always hidden from public view. And there is a big company behind it: Verisk.

Guests:

Barbara Holub, Marshall Fire survivor

Bill May, Palisades Fire survivor

Thomas Loeser, attorney

Harvey Rosenfield, Consumer Watchdog founder

Ben Armstrong, Actuary

Dave Cortese, California state senator