The suit, 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 Eaton and Palisades Fires in January 2025.
The plaintiffs allege the defendants jointly conspired to cancel the homeowners’ fire insurance policies leading up to the fires. According to the complaint, this conduct forced the homeowners to obtain coverage from a state-run program that offers less protective coverage, resulting in higher out-of-pocket expenses for rebuilding.
The insurance carriers have moved to dismiss the claims, invoking the Noerr-Pennington doctrine, which exempts petitioning of government agencies from antitrust liability. In its Statement of Interest, the DOJ argued that the doctrine should not apply to the insurers’ alleged group boycott. The department contended that the boycott was “separate and distinct—and caused separate and distinct harms—from any government petitioning activity.”
The filing also addressed the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which limits certain federal antitrust claims regarding insurance conduct subject to state oversight. The DOJ noted that the act does not necessarily bar group boycott claims of the type alleged by the homeowners.
“Nearly 16 months after the Eaton and Palisades Fires, the homeowners who lost everything are still trying to rebuild their lives,” Charlie Beller, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in a press release. “The last thing the fire victims need is the improper use of certain legal doctrines to deprive Angelenos of their day in court.”
Beller added that the division is monitoring insurer conduct across the country to ensure that an improper understanding of federal law does not preclude state or federal antitrust claims.
The Antitrust Division routinely files statements of interest and amicus briefs in federal and state courts to protect competition and consumers.