The Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in a lawsuit filed against State Farm by homeowners who lost their homes in the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
The case, Ferrier v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, is pending in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. It was brought by 60 homeowners who lost their homes in the wildfires. They allege that the defendants, which include 16 homeowners insurance companies, conspired to cancel their fire insurance policies in the years leading up to the fires. The homeowners say they were forced to obtain insurance from the California FAIR Plan, which offers less coverage, resulting in higher out-of-pocket expenses for rebuilding.
Related: California Taking Action Against State Farm Over LA Wildfire Claims
The case was brought under California state antitrust law, but the carriers have argued that the claims should be dismissed on the basis of the Noerr-Pennington doctrine, an exemption from antitrust liability under federal and California antitrust laws that protects petitioning and advocacy directed at government agencies. The DOJ’s Statement of Interest argues that the doctrine should not apply to the insurers’ alleged group boycott of the homeowner policyholders because it was separate and distinct and caused separate and distinct harms from any government petitioning activity by the insurers.
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The Statement of Interest also asserts that the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which limits certain federal antitrust claims regarding insurance conduct subject to state oversight, does not necessarily bar group boycott claims of the type alleged by homeowners in the case.
Topics
California
Wildfire
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