AB 597 will make the struggles of fire victims even harder

OPINION – As a California attorney who has spent nearly two decades helping property owners recover from devastating losses, I’ve seen firsthand what it takes to rebuild after disaster strikes. Fires, floods, and other catastrophes don’t just destroy homes; they turn lives upside down. When that happens, survivors need every possible resource to get back on their feet. Assembly Bill 597 would take one of those resources away.

AB 597, authored by Assemblymember Harabedian and now moving through the Legislature, would restrict the ability of wildfire survivors to hire public adjusters, professionals who work exclusively on behalf of policyholders to ensure they receive fair insurance payouts. I’ve worked alongside public adjusters in hundreds of cases across California and other states. I know exactly how critical they are to the claims process.

This bill, backed by insurance companies and the Insurance Commissioner, is being framed as a way to help homeowners by capping fees and tightening rules. But make no mistake: the real impact of AB 597 will be to make it harder for victims to get the compensation they are owed. It’s a solution in search of a problem, and it tips the scales even further in favor of insurance companies that are already under scrutiny for delays, denials, and lowball offers.

Let me be clear: public adjusters don’t get paid unless they improve the outcome for the policyholder. Their job is to level the playing field, to help navigate complex policies, quantify losses, and fight for fair treatment in a system stacked against everyday people. I’ve represented clients in some of the most contentious disputes imaginable, and I can tell you with certainty: most families don’t stand a chance against a major insurer without professional help.

Limiting access to public adjusters, especially right before the peak of wildfire season, is not just bad policy; it’s dangerous. We’re still seeing fallout from this year’s fires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, where homeowners are battling not just the damage to their homes, but also the uphill fight to get their insurance companies to pay what’s fair. Many of these victims have told me they would have given up entirely if not for their public adjuster.

The idea that restricting public adjuster access will somehow “net more money” for homeowners is both disingenuous and divorced from reality. In fact, by discouraging public adjusters from taking on cases, especially complex or low-value claims, AB 597 ensures more survivors will be left to navigate the claims process alone. And alone, they will almost always recover less.

If lawmakers truly want to protect disaster victims, they should be focused on making insurers more accountable, not stripping away one of the few supports families have in their corner.

As someone who’s been on the frontlines of these battles for decades, I urge legislators to reject AB 597. Let’s stand with fire survivors, not with the companies that have failed them.

Daniel Veroff is a California-based attorney who has spent nearly 20 years helping disaster survivors recover insurance payments after wildfires, floods, and other large-scale losses.