Lawsuit Against Big Oil Alleges Racketeering Conspiracy on Behalf of Homeowners Saddled with Rising Insurance Premiums
SEATTLE – Homeowners represented by Hagens Berman are accusing Big Oil of orchestrating a systematic unlawful enterprise to conceal the lasting effects of their petrol products, which plaintiffs allege have driven up major disaster declarations for climate-related events, and have led to rising homeowners insurance premiums.
The Nov. 25, 2025, lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and names as defendants American Petroleum Institute, BP PLC, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell and its subsidiary, Equilon Enterprises LLC, which collectively generated $2.4 trillion in profits since 1990, according to the complaint.
Steve Berman, Hagens Berman co-founder and managing partner, served as special assistant attorney general for 13 states against Big Tobacco. He leads the firm’s similar accusations against Big Oil, which include nuisance, propaganda, underhanded tactics and lateral influence, allegedly used to sow disinformation and control public opinion.
Meanwhile, Big Oil’s own research points to the use of fossil fuels prompting climate change and its harmful consequences, including climate change, according the lawsuit. Related natural disasters can and have caused extensive property damage nationwide, giving rise to increasing home insurance premiums. If you purchased homeowners’ insurance since 2017, find out your rights.
Attorneys say Big Oil’s cover-up is an effort to avoid and censor scrutiny of Big Oil and its widespread ill effects, which directly harm consumers and the environment. The 118-page lawsuit brings allegations of falsified public statements, funded fraudulent research at targeted universities, greenwashing and an attempt to undermine Congressional investigation into the oil industry.
“Big Oil took its playbook directly from the minds of Big Tobacco and think they can get away with the same deliberate disinformation campaign, coercing the public to pay for the very harms they suffer,” said Steve Berman, managing partner and co-founder of Hagens Berman. “We see a direct correlation between Big Oil’s lies and the alarming increase of homeowners insurance due to the rising threat of natural disasters.”
The Numbers: Just How Much is Big Oil Costing Homeowners?
The lawsuit states, “immense and never-before-seen covered losses have sparked a multi-billion dollar increase in the premiums ordinary homeowners are being forced to pay,” linked to climate change and spurred by Big Oil’s organized campaign. Attorneys point to national media coverage which has observed, “the Climate Crisis has become an Insurance Crisis.”
According to the lawsuit, from 2018 through 2022, the annual number of major disaster declarations for climate-related events was almost double the annual average over the 50-year period from 1960 to 2010.
“In 2023, a significant number of natural catastrophes again impacted the United States, at an estimated cost of $114 billion, of which approximately $80 billion was insured,” the lawsuit reads. “And in just the first three quarters of 2024, natural catastrophes caused the United States to suffer an estimated $145 billion in economic losses, of which nearly $80 billion was insured.”
The lawsuit argues that as natural disasters become more costly, homeowners foot the bill: “In the state of Washington alone, homeowners’ rates have increased by a total of 51% over the past six years.”
“But climate change has driven insurance premium increases throughout the country because insurance generally operates by pooling risks,” the lawsuit states. “Thus, when climate change increases the frequency and intensity of disasters, insurance companies will spread the costs across the customer pool in the form of higher rates.”
“The Most Costly Lie”
According to the lawsuit, Big Oil has worked tirelessly for decades to conceal its star role in climate change, and in the costs of climate change. For this, the lawsuit brings claims of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Attorneys also say Big Oil has committed civil conspiracy, fraud and misrepresentation, failure to warn and has benefitted from unjust enrichment, among other claims.
“Big Oil’s own research shows the magnitude of this problem, and the industry is heavily invested in public misinformation about the true cost – monetary and environmental – of its conduct,” Berman said. “Big Oil’s deception has become the most costly lie – a lie worth hundreds of billions of dollars.”
“This case is about holding the fossil fuel Defendants accountable for the increased homeowners’ insurance premiums that their coordinated and deliberate scheme to hide the truth about climate change and the effects of burning fossil fuels has brought about; a cost the highly profitable trillion dollar industry can afford, and one that it should not be permitted to simply pass along to the everyday people who are presently bearing the burden of these increased premiums,” the lawsuit reads.
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About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs’ rights complex litigation law firm with a tenacious drive for achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. Since its founding in 1993, the firm’s determination has earned it numerous national accolades, awards and titles of “Most Feared Plaintiff’s Firm,” MVPs and Trailblazers of class-action law. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.
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