Homeowners’ Suit Charges Insurer With Forgery

A Sherman Oaks couple have filed a lawsuit against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., accusing it of forging signatures on insurance forms and destroying documents to avoid paying claims from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Two former State Farm employees have given sworn testimony supporting the accusations, and say such practices are common at the company, according to court documents.

State Farm spokesman Craig Peterson refused to address the lawsuit specifically, but denied the allegations of wrongdoing. “You don’t become the No. 1 insurance company in the country by treating people unfairly,” he said.

The lawsuit was filed by Roderick Taylor and his wife, Krista. The couple purchased a State Farm homeowners insurance policy in 1983. They allege that they were told the policy included earthquake coverage but learned otherwise after the Northridge quake, which seriously damaged their $1-million hillside home.

State Farm later produced an insurance document declining earthquake coverage that Roderick Taylor alleges contains a forged signature. “There was a signature on it that wasn’t even remotely close to mine,” he said.