The Brief

Insurance is meant to be a safety net, but for thousands of survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires, it’s become a major barrier to their ability to rebuild.

Almost every major insurer — State Farm, AAA, USAA and the California FAIR Plan — has faced lawsuits alleging underinsurance, delays and inconsistent support in the wake of January’s devastation.

Now a group of fire survivors with AAA insurance say they're facing an average gap of $300,000 between the payouts they're due and what it will cost to rebuild. So they're calling on the insurer to allow them to use money set aside to replace their personal property for their rebuilds without completing the full inventory of what they lost.

“The question you have to ask yourself is what is the point of buying insurance if it's not actually going to rebuild your home?” said Andrew King, who lost his home in Altadena.

Andrew King's house in Altadena before the Eaton Fire.

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Andrew King's home after the Eaton Fire.

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Courtesy Andrew King

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He is one of more than 200 survivors with AAA who recently sent a letter to the insurer asking for more flexibility.

“People are really trying to figure out if they're going to have enough money to rebuild, and so if this doesn't get resolved, the reality is you will see a deluge of people selling their homes,” King added.

The insurer has until the end of the month to respond.

The problem

Homeowners who lost their homes in January’s fires still have to pay their mortgages, in addition to rent, while they remain displaced. Temporary housing insurance is meant to help cover rental costs, but as the year anniversary of the fires approaches, those payouts are quickly running out.

Meanwhile, most survivors are still in the traumatic and exhaustive process of compiling lists of the personal items they lost when their homes burned down. While most have been paid 80% of what they’re owed for that insurance, they need to finish the list — and prove they’re going to re-buy much of it — to get the rest.

At the same time, for those who are starting to rebuild, their mortgage companies hold onto their insurance money until they reach certain milestones in rebuilding.

All of this means that a lot of the costs have to come out of pocket, forcing difficult choices for those who can’t wait on insurance payouts.

 ”What family is going to be able to do those things without burning through cash?” King asked. “ Are they going to take out debt more? Are they going to start cutting back on paying their mortgage and therefore just be foreclosed on? Are they going to eat less so their kids can eat?”

Nicole Wirth, who also lost her home in Altadena and faces an underinsurance gap of about $300,000, said getting the full payout for her personal property insurance money without having to complete a full inventory would be a lifesaver.

Her message to AAA: “You underinsured us. Now you’re making us kick and scream and do all this traumatic work” to get the personal property payout. Instead, she and others want the full amounts of personal property money they’re owed so they can use it to help finance their rebuild.

The costs of delays 

At the same time, the longer it takes to rebuild, the higher costs are likely to be, as new federal tariffs hit and demand surges. Wirth and other survivors worry that their insurance gaps will only grow and push back their rebuild timelines.

Even for those who aren’t rebuilding, the gap is a barrier to starting their lives over.

Christie McIntire and her family relocated to Tennessee after the fires. After their home burned, they tried to find a place in the L.A. area they could afford to live with their two children and cats, but most rents exceeded their temporary housing coverage.

“ We essentially felt forced out of California,” McIntire said.

They did receive 80% of their personal property payout, but they’ve decided not to rebuild. Still, they can’t get the rebuild insurance money from their mortgage company, which they need to purchase a new home in Tennessee. In the trauma and stress of figuring out their next steps, they have yet to start their inventory to receive the rest of their personal property payout, which they need for a down payment on a new house.

It’s a Catch-22: AAA says they won’t pay them any additional money until they close escrow on that new home — but the McIntires need that money to close. And they need the personal property money they’re owed from AAA to help with a down payment.

“ They say it's incurred cost and … what if you go into escrow on a house and then you back out and go buy something cheaper? I'm like, why would we do that?” McIntire said.

Why so much underinsurance? 

Two lawsuits filed in June against AAA and USAA allege widespread insurance fraud and the use of flawed software that doesn’t accurately calculate insurance costs.

A recent San Francisco Chronicle investigation into California’s major insurers also identified faulty algorithms as a reason for systemic underinsurance across the state. The Legislature recently passed several bills to address insurance and wildfire losses, as well. They now await Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature or veto.

AAA did not respond to detailed questions from LAist regarding how it calculates insurance coverage and if it might consider releasing personal property payments as policyholders have asked.

“At the Auto Club of Southern California, every claim is handled with care and attention, tailored to the unique circumstances of each member and guided by the terms of their individual insurance policy,” AAA spokesperson Doug Shupe said in an email to LAist. “Just as every home is different, so is every claim — and we treat them as such.”

Nicole Wirth and husband Michael with their dogs, Porkchop and Goose, in front of their home in Altadena before the fire.

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Courtesy Nicole Wirth

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That chronic underinsurance is why survivors like King, Wirth and McIntire say insurance should be more flexible — and that, in the case of total loss, personal property insurance should be paid out without requiring a detailed inventory. King said he already has a list with 2,500 lines and still isn’t finished.

There is precedent: Following 2017 North Bay wildfires, multiple insurers — including parts of AAA, USAA, Farmers, Chubb, Allstate and Liberty Mutua — paid personal property coverage to fire survivors without requiring detailed inventories.

“If people cannot get their personal property coverage to pay for their homes, many of them will ultimately be forced to sell,” King said. “ What I'm hearing from nearly every survivor, including myself to some degree, is we are going to have to use the money to buy our stuff to actually rebuild our home. And most of us will be living in shells just because we need a place to live.”

Hearings being held this week could decide whether California continues to have a say over what happens in federal waters off the state’s coast.

It’s part of the Trump administration’s efforts to supercharge industrial activities, including offshore drilling, rocket launches and desalination plants along California’s coast. At a hearing Monday at a Santa Monica hotel and at a news conference beforehand, speaker after speaker decried any effort that would allow the federal government to revoke California's ability to manage its coast.

A federal law called the Coastal Zone Management Act gives states with coastlines the right to review and veto projects that may conflict with state policies and economies. The law was signed by President Richard Nixon after a devastating oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara and is credited with launching the modern environmental movement.

More than 50 years later, the federal government has called for a detailed review of California's compliance with the 1972 law.

In a May social media post, the Trump administration said California is standing in the way of economic progress and called the state’s coastal management practices “obstructionist” and “environmental extremism.”

California officials, including state Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, dispute that, saying the state approves federal initiatives 96% of the time.

“ Never before in the five-decade history of this federal act has this sudden baseless review taken place on any state's coastal management program, and never before in the history of this act has a coastal management program ever been revoked,” Crowfoot said at a news conference in Santa Monica on Monday.  ”This federal administration is bent on industrializing our coast.”

The hearings, which are being administered by NOAA, could result in the federal government decertifying California’s rights under the Coastal Zone Management Act. A decision to do so would almost certainly be challenged in court, experts say.

That possibility has prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to call on Californians to submit public comments on the issue.

“Give the Trump administration an earful,” Newsom said in a statement.

The hearings this week are solely for public comment. The review “seeks any new input from relevant stakeholders regarding spaceport infrastructure, offshore oil production, pipeline maintenance, desalination projects, and undersea cables,” according to a notice in the federal register. 

Such reviews have happened before — in 2024 a draft review by NOAA found the state’s coastal agencies had properly carried out the CZMA. The review, however, was not finalized due to the change in administration.

The latest review comes after the Trump administration gutted NOAA staff and funding. It has also aggressively worked to expand drilling off the California coast, while at the same time using taxpayer dollars to pay offshore wind companies to abandon their energy projects — something L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath highlighted at the Monday news conference.

“ L.A. County will soon achieve 100% renewable and reliable electricity. This is the change that we want to see,” she said. “Meanwhile, the Trump administration is recklessly starting foreign wars and skyrocketing the price at the pump.”

L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath also spoke Monday at the news conference ahead of the NOAA hearing in Santa Monica.

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Tina Calderon, Gabrielino Tongva and Chumash culture bearer, speaks at Monday's news conference.

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Horvath is part of a coalition of local, state, tribal, environmental, legal and business leaders who are calling the review a “takeover” of state and local rights.

Orange County resident Grant Bixby, who founded the Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast, pointed out at the news conference that offshore drilling makes up a tiny fraction of the state’s coastal economy, which generates between $44 billion and $50 billion a year, according to NOAA.

"Should we put 99% of the other employment at risk for the benefit of one dirty industry?” Bixby said.

Bixby recalled how the 2021 Huntington Beach oil spill turned the beaches into a “ghost town.”

The NOAA hearing was held in a ballroom at the Santa Monica Hilton.

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Among the speakers at the news conference and hearing, a clear theme emerged: The coast is an integral part of being a Californian, whether you’re lucky enough to live beachside or you live inland and have a favorite spot to call your own on hot summer days.

“The point is that we all love our beautiful saltwaters,” said Tina Calderon, Gabrielino Tongva and Chumash culture bearer, at the news conference. “These are sacred waters, and it's up to us to be the voice. It's up to us to cause no more human harm. We've done enough.”

Jackie, the bald eagle whose livestreamed life with her partner Shadow won the hearts of fans worldwide, has died, rescuers announced Monday.

The famous raptor, believed to be 14 years old, was receiving intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center for severe anemia. She ultimately succumbed to her condition after a team of veterinarians struggled for weeks to figure out what was causing it.

Jackie remained critically ill despite receiving oxygen therapy, supportive treatment and around-the-clock monitoring. 

"We know this news will be deeply felt by the many thousands of people around the world who have followed her journey, hoped alongside us, prayed for her, and supported the people caring for her,” the Ojai Raptor Center said in an Instagram post. “Our team is heartbroken. It has been an extraordinary privilege to care for her."

Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that launched the popular nest livestream in 2015, confirmed the news on social media.

“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts, to bring you the latest update from Ojai Raptor Center,” the nonprofit said to its roughly 1.3 million Facebook followers. “Please be kind to yourself, to others, to the FOBBV team and to those at the Ojai Raptor Center. Soar free Jackie…”

What happened to her?

The rescue center said on social media Sunday that she was “critically ill,” “unstable” and still in an "extremely serious” condition.

She was getting oxygen therapy, supportive treatment and around-the-clock care from vets and specialists across the country. But her red blood cell levels continued to drop well below normal after rebounding a bit after she was rescued.

Jackie was rescued in July by Big Bear’s Dana Point Park after a brief fight with two other eagles. Jackie was weak, vulnerable, underweight and unable to fly, according to the Ojai Raptor Center.

The center said the fight is likely what left her grounded, but her condition suggests she had been sick for some time.

How Jackie’s Big Bear saga started

Jackie was the matriarch of the famous Big Bear bald eagle nest since around 2017. She’s believed to be the first bald eagle chick hatched in Big Bear Valley in recent history, according to the nonprofit.

The pair believed to be her parents, Ricky and Lucy, left the area around 2016. The young Jackie then started hanging out in their old nest, where the livestream camera had been installed.

Jackie took on her first mate, a bald eagle known as Mr. B, and laid her first clutch of eggs in the nest the following season. Shadow came into the picture in the summer of 2018, refusing to leave until Mr. B eventually flew away from the area, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.

Jackie and Shadow were mates ever since. They successfully raised six chicks together — Sandy and Luna this season, Sunny and Gizmo last year, Spirit in 2022 and Simba in 2019.

Amid growing frustration with both major political parties, voters are open to some big changes.

A new poll, commissioned by supporters of election reforms and shared with NPR, shows there is significant support for upending winner-take-all U.S. House elections and single-member congressional districts and instead moving toward proportional representation, a system that elects multiple representatives in a single district in rough proportion to a party's vote share.

Earlier this summer, about 500 democracy and legal experts sent a letter to Congress urging members to consider proportional representation as a solution to the redistricting brinksmanship set off by President Donald Trump last year.

"There should be little doubt that the single-member district system is failing to deliver fair and representative outcomes," they wrote. "We urge Congress to adopt a proportional system of representation, solving the gerrymandering problem at its source."

According to the poll conducted by the advocacy group Fix Our House and liberal think tank New America, half of 1,000 respondents said they support proportional representation, with nearly a quarter opposed. A third of those who participated said they were not sure whether they supported it or not.

Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at New America, said he was surprised to see how much backing there is for proportional representation, despite the idea being fairly obscure in the United States.

"It really did shock me how supportive people were of the various principles of proportional representation across the board," he told NPR.

While support was highest among younger, more educated, more left-leaning voters, Drutman found that 6 in 10 Trump voters who have an opinion on proportional representation said they back it, too.

American voters want more political parties

Pollsters also walked respondents through some of the tradeoffs of proportional representation — including that it can lead to multiple parties having to find a way to work together.

"For every one of those questions, people prefer the proportional system with multiple parties," Drutman said, "even if it leads to a coalition government that is maybe not quite as efficient."

He said voters also weren't very concerned when asked about the possibility of proportional representation leading to some more extreme political parties.

"One thing people said is they already think the parties are pretty extreme right now," Drutman explained. "So that's not quite the fear that some in the political class think it would be."

Jocelyn Kiley, director of political research at the Pew Research Center, said voters writ large have been in a "prolonged period of disaffection with politics and the political system."

She said Pew has found there is a lot of openness to reform, with nearly 70% of respondents to its polls saying they wish, at least somewhat, there were more political parties to choose from.

Kiley said detailed knowledge of what any election reform would look like is rare among voters. And she said that when many reforms "move from theory to practice," they often hit some resistance.

"People want to understand exactly how that reform will impact them," she said.

Room for a national conversation

Drutman told NPR the new poll numbers mark a starting point for what could be a national conversation about how to break out of the country's two-party system.

"People are dissatisfied," he said. "People are frustrated. People don't have a language for how to talk about alternatives because they haven't really heard all that much about the alternatives, because we haven't had a national conversation about the alternatives yet. So, there's a lot of room to have that conversation."

Drutman said only about a quarter of the respondents were aware that there are alternatives to a two-party system, and even fewer people could name an alternative when pressed.

In fact, only about 2% of the participants in the poll could name proportional representation off the top of their heads, said Dustin Wahl, executive director of Fix Our House,

"But when asked about the kind of underlying values beneath it and the component parts, there was widespread support from all across the political spectrum," Wahl said. "And that's not something we would have expected to see necessarily four years ago, for instance. But as the problems grow, the desire for solutions grows, as well."

Proportional representation is currently the most widely used electoral system among the world's democracies. Wahl points out that the U.S., along with the likes of Canada and Australia, has a system that was abandoned long ago by other countries.

"Arguably the only reason we don't use proportional representation is because it wasn't used anywhere in the world at the time of [America's] founding," he said. "And we just kept doing elections the same way."

The poll also found a majority support (54%) for expanding the House, with 150 new members.

There are bills in Congress, with all Democratic co-sponsors, that would study or move the U.S. to a system of proportional representation, but Wahl said any bill that doesn't include expanding the House is "politically dead in the water" because without expansion, lawmakers have to choose to potentially vote themselves out of office.

"That [150-seat expansion] gives you enough of a cushion so that members, incumbents know that they're very likely to hold on to their seats," he said. "It wouldn't run into the problem, at all, of candidates or of sitting members of Congress thinking that they're going to lose their seats because their elections would be totally untouched."
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