Jean Eaglesham

London

Senior Reporter at The Wall Street Journal

Reporter for @WSJ / +44(783).381.3612 on mobile or Signal/ [email protected]

Articles

A Death-Sentence Diagnosis and the Wrenching Realities of Life Insurance

1 month ago | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham

Jay Taylor thought it was just a bad case of the flu. An ambulance, hospital stay and battery of blood tests later, the 63-year-old grandfather learned the devastating truth: He had leukemia. The Newport Beach, Calif., resident quickly dug out his life-insurance documents from the drawer where they had sat for more than two decades. “One of the first things you think about when a doctor says you have incurable cancer is, ‘How will I protect my family?’” he said.
Inside the California Insurance Safety-Net System That Lost a Million-Dollar Check

2 months ago | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham |Nicole Friedman

LOS ANGELES—Susan Spira called her insurer days after the Los Angeles wildfires destroyed her family’s home—only to be told her policy had been canceled. The reason: In the chaotic days after the house burned to the ground, her monthly premium hadn’t been paid. “I nearly fell apart,” she said. Spira, a real-estate lawyer, fought back and the insurer, California’s Fair Plan, agreed her Pacific Palisades house was covered when the infernos sparked.
A Secret Mortgage Blacklist Is Leaving Homeowners Stuck With Unsellable Condos

Mar 17, 2025 | yahoo.com | Jean Eaglesham |Nicole Friedman

Condominium owners across the country are facing a paralyzing problem: They can’t sell their properties because of a fast-growing and mostly secret mortgage blacklist. Real-estate agent Paul Gangi was days away from closing a sale of his listing in Shadow Ridge, a 440-unit townhouse and condo complex in Ventura County, Calif., in December. That is when his phone rang. “I got a panicked call from the lender saying, ‘Sorry, we’ve just found out Shadow Ridge has been blacklisted,’” he said.
A Secret Mortgage Blacklist Is Leaving Homeowners Stuck With Unsellable Condos

Mar 17, 2025 | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham |Nicole Friedman

March 17, 2025 5:30 am ETCondominium owners across the country are facing a paralyzing problem: They can’t sell their properties because of a fast-growing and mostly secret mortgage blacklist. Real-estate agent Paul Gangi was days away from closing a sale of his listing in Shadow Ridge, a 440-unit townhouse and condo complex in Ventura County, Calif., in December. That is when his phone rang. Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
California Approves State Farm’s Emergency Rate Increase on Homeowners

Mar 14, 2025 | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham

California regulators have given State Farm provisional approval for an emergency 22% hike in home-insurance rates, months after devastating wildfires upended the state’s already troubled insurance market. The rate increase will add an average $600 a year to the bills of State Farm’s million-plus home-insurance customers in California, the consumer group Consumer Watchdog estimated. It comes barely a year after a 20% increase came into effect. State Farm is California’s biggest home insurer.
Why Tariffs Could Push Up Insurance Rates and Slow Disaster Recovery

Mar 6, 2025 | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham

Tariffs are likely to load billions of dollars in extra costs onto home, auto and business insurance, pushing rates up further, an industry group warned. Costs for personal auto insurance could rise by between $7 billion and $24 billion a year, as tariffs boost prices for replacement car parts, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association said. That would imply a single-digit percentage increase in rates, if costs are passed on to policy buyers.
Insurers Braced to Bail Out California State Insurer For L.A. Wildfire Losses

Feb 13, 2025 | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham

Insurers are estimating losses totaling billions of dollars from the Los Angeles wildfires, including assumed payments to allow for a bail out of California’s Fair Plan insurer of last resort. Losses from the fires, the most expensive in U.S. history, will cut into companies’ profits for the first three months of this year. Early estimates of pre-tax losses include $1.7 billion from Travelers, $500 million from American International Group, $1.1 billion from Allstate and $1.5 billion from Chubb.
State Farm Was All In on California-Until It Pulled the Plug Before the Fires

Feb 6, 2025 | msn.com | Jean Eaglesham |Susan Pulliam

Continue reading More for You Continue reading More for You
State Farm Was All In on California-Until It Pulled the Plug Before the Fires

Feb 6, 2025 | wsj.com | Jean Eaglesham |Susan Pulliam

After the pandemic, most home insurers were fleeing wildfire-prone areas of California. But State Farm was there—and making a huge bet. It gobbled up market share—and generated substantial commissions for its agents—by insuring high-value homes in the Pacific Palisades and other Los Angeles neighborhoods that many of its competitors rejected as too vulnerable to wildfires. By 2022, State Farm had more than 20% of the California market, dwarfing its competitors. Already a subscriber? Sign In
Insurers’ Rule Change Puts California Homeowners on the Hook for L.A. Fire

Jan 15, 2025 | msn.com | Jean Eaglesham |Sara Randazzo

Continue reading More for You Continue reading More for You

Journalists covering the same region

Bill Esparza

Freelance Writer at Eater

Bill Esparza primarily covers news in Los Angeles, California, United States and surrounding areas including Long Beach and Santa Monica.

Michele Gile

Reporter at KCBS-TV (Los Angeles, CA)

Reporter at KCAL-TV (Los Angeles, CA)

Michele Gile primarily covers news in the Greater Los Angeles area, including cities like Long Beach and surrounding regions in California, United States.