Quake Victims Win Settlement State Farm Insurance Co. secretly agreed to pay a $100 million settlement to 117 policyholders whose homes were damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The homeowners claimed that State Farm changed their policies in the years before the quake to reduce their coverage but without adequately informing them of the cuts. The insurer had allegedly sent out notices telling policyholders that the coverage was “different,” without telling them it was also less. The agreement, disclosed by the L.A. Times last week, could open State Farm to future suits by thousands of other homeowners whose earthquake policies were changed by the insurer. State Farm executives declined to discuss the potential for future litigation but noted the company admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement. “Ultimately, settlement, although a bitter pill, is the best way to go,” company spokesman Bill Sirola said.