L.A. County Opens Investigation Into Farmers Over Fire Claims

County Counsel is looking at possible Unfair Competition Law violations and has told Farmers to stop any unlawful practices.

Los Angeles County has opened an investigation into Farmers Insurance Company's handling of claims from policyholders affected by the January 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires. County Counsel is examining possible violations of California's Unfair Competition Law, the county said in an announcement dated September 9, 2026.

An investigation isn't a lawsuit.

The complaints at the center of it come from houses that didn't burn down. At a recent meeting with Eaton fire survivors, policyholders told the county that Farmers dragged its feet or refused outright when asked to cover testing by qualified industrial hygienists. Residents said they paid for that testing themselves. What came back, they told the county, was lead, asbestos and chromium at unsafe concentrations, plus other toxic materials, inside homes still standing.

Survivors also told the county that Farmers refused to cover adequate cleanup of those contaminants and declined to keep paying living expenses, according to the announcement. That leaves a household choosing between the bill for somewhere else to sleep and a return to a house with lead in it.

“My constituents shouldn’t have to walk back into homes with lead and asbestos because an insurance company won’t pay for the test that would prove it’s there,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in the announcement.

Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath said in the same announcement that families whose homes survived the two fires but remain damaged or contaminated shouldn't have to pick between an unsafe house and financial ruin, and that Farmers has had long enough to take care of the people who paid its premiums.

County Counsel has formally notified Farmers that if the company is engaged in any unlawful or unfair business practice, it must stop immediately and come into full compliance with state law, the county said. The office has also sent Farmers a letter seeking information and documents about how it runs its claims business.

“These claims need to be resolved quickly and in full compliance with the law,” County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison said.

State law lets County Counsel investigate and prosecute Unfair Competition Law violations on behalf of the people of California, and seek restitution, civil penalties and an injunction where it finds them. That's the ladder this sits on: a demand letter now, a decision about court later.

Nine days earlier, on August 31, the county sued State Farm over its handling of claims from survivors of the same two fires. That suit alleges violations of the Unfair Competition Law and other laws, per the county's announcement.

County Counsel's letter to Farmers is posted alongside the announcement on the county's site, and questions about the inquiry go to Assistant County Counsel Scott Kuhn at 323-719-9606.

Source: lacounty.gov, retrieved September 13, 2026.