California insurance regulators and consumer advocates said President Donald Trump's
California insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara, in three posts on X responding to news of the order, stated:
"Wildfires devastated Los Angeles. The largest source of recovery has been $22.4 billion in insurance payouts, more than triple what came from federal, state, and local aid combined. That's because we enforced the law.
But insurance can't rebuild communities by itself. As California families struggle to recover, ICE raids are removing the very workers who rebuild our homes. Tariffs are driving up the price of the materials people need to put their lives back together.
Survivors deserve real federal partnership, real coordination, real resources and relief from heated rhetoric."
Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, said money, not permits are delaying recovery for wildfire survivors, in an email response to Digital Insurance.
"Seven out of ten Los Angeles fire survivors are still displaced, and most of us will run out of insurance housing coverage within the next five months. Fast-tracking permits does nothing if families can't afford to rebuild or even remain housed," Chen wrote. "We urge President Trump to release the billions in federal disaster relief that survivors are owed and to hold insurance companies accountable for paying claims fully and promptly. Until money flows, we can't recover or rebuild."
Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders acknowledged the importance of building code enforcement for the recovery, but countered the executive order's portrayal of local recovery efforts.
"Considering the magnitude of the destruction, toxic soil conditions and multiple local governmental jurisdictions, wildfire recovery in L.A. is on track, thanks to a huge amount of hard work by public officials, impacted households, non profit and business stakeholders," she wrote in an email response. "Insurers will be the first to tell you, enforcing building codes after disasters is how we restore smart, safe, insurable communities."
