Tyler Perry Rips ‘Greedy’ Insurance Companies for Canceling Policies Before LA Fires

LOS ANGELES, CA. February 21, 2020: Tyler Perry at the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony honoring Dr Phil McGraw — Photo by Featureflash /Deposit Photos)

Tyler Perry has called out insurance companies for the “appalling” practice of canceling homeowners’ policies on a whim in Los Angeles — an area known for wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides and other disasters.

In a post on Instagram Sunday afternoon, the filmmaker said he felt compelled to speak out after watching “gut-wrenching” news coverage of a woman using a garden hose to protect her 90-year-old parents’ home from the flames “because their insurance was canceled.”

“Does anyone else find it appalling that insurance companies can take billions of dollars out of communities for years and then, all of a sudden, be allowed to cancel millions of policies for the very people they became rich on?” People who have paid premiums all of their lives are left with nothing because of pure greed,” Perry wrote in the post.

“As I am in the process of trying to figure out what steps to take to do all I can to help as many as I can, I am keeping everyone in my prayers,” he continued.

RelatedJhené Aiko Shares Heartbreaking Video After Losing Home in LA Fires – as Death Toll Rises

Tyler Perry Statement About Los Angeles Fires
Instagram/Tyler Perry

Perry was referring to a nurse who told ABC7 she defied a mandatory evacuation order to try and save her parents’ house in Hastings Ranch outside Pasadena.

“I know I’m not supposed to be here, but this is my parents’ home. They just got canceled from their fire insurance,” the unidentified woman said. “They’ve lived in this house for 75 years. They’ve had the same insurance, and these insurance people decided to cancel their fire [coverage]. And we’re going through this. And it just happened. And they have no fire insurance.”

Last week, CBS News reported State Farm dropped about 1,600 policies for Pacific Palisades residents in July, after previously cutting thousands of policies in Brentwood, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Monte Nido zip codes.

A November analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle found that since 2019, more than 100,000 Californians have lost their insurance coverage as disasters increase in frequency across the state.

Homeowners can still get basic coverage through the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, or FAIR Plan — but watchdog group Cal Matters has described the plan as having “poor service” and “rising costs.”

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is apparently trying to fight back. On Jan. 9, Lara announced he was issuing a moratorium banning insurance companies from canceling policies in areas affected by the 2025 wildfires.

“This important consumer protection law requires a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies canceling or non-renewing residential insurance policies in certain areas within or adjacent to a fire perimeter after a declared state of emergency is issued by the Governor,” read a statement the insurance commissioner’s website.

The fires started on Tuesday, Jan. 7. To date, they have burned more than 40,000 acres and destroyed at least 12,000 structures.

The ATF is currently investigating how they started.

As of Sunday, three fires were still burning in L.A. County, according to CAL Fire — they are the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles; the Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area; and the Hurst Fire in Sylmar.

The wind-fueled fires have killed at least 16 people, the county coroner’s office said in a press release on Saturday evening.


Discover more from Urban Hollywood 411

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

About Anita Bennett

Anita Bennett is the editor and founder of Urban Hollywood 411. She can be reached on Twitter @tvanita.

One thought on “Tyler Perry Rips ‘Greedy’ Insurance Companies for Canceling Policies Before LA Fires

  1. Tyler Perry should research why the insurance companies cannot follow California state policies and remain in business in California before condemning them for cancelling homeowner policies. Look at the policies and regulations that Governor Newsom has instituted and the fire precautions that he has ignored in his policies. Newsom and the woke Democrats are more at fault than anyone else. Look also at the failures in their environmental policies that have destroyed the Monarch butterflies and the wind power proposals that will destroy the birds and whales off the Pacific coast.

Leave a Reply