DOJ Information Assertion of Curiosity in California Fireplace Insurance coverage Case

The Division of Justice filed a Assertion of Curiosity in a lawsuit filed towards State Farm by owners who misplaced their properties within the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.

The case, Ferrier v. State Farm Fireplace and Casualty Firm, is pending within the Superior Courtroom of Los Angeles County. It was introduced by 60 owners who misplaced their properties within the wildfires. They allege that the defendants, which embrace 16 owners insurance coverage corporations, conspired to cancel their fireplace insurance coverage insurance policies within the years main as much as the fires. The owners say they have been pressured to acquire insurance coverage from the California FAIR Plan, which gives much less protection, leading to larger out-of-pocket bills for rebuilding.

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The case was introduced underneath California state antitrust regulation, however the carriers have argued that the claims ought to be dismissed on the idea of the Noerr-Pennington doctrine, an exemption from antitrust legal responsibility underneath federal and California antitrust legal guidelines that protects petitioning and advocacy directed at authorities businesses. The DOJ’s Assertion of Curiosity argues that the doctrine shouldn’t apply to the insurers’ alleged group boycott of the home-owner policyholders as a result of it was separate and distinct and brought about separate and distinct harms from any authorities petitioning exercise by the insurers.

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The Assertion of Curiosity additionally asserts that the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which limits sure federal antitrust claims relating to insurance coverage conduct topic to state oversight, doesn’t essentially bar group boycott claims of the sort alleged by owners within the case.

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California
Wildfire