Los Angeles insurance giant makes chilling prediction after devastating fires
2 months, 1 week ago

Los Angeles insurance giant makes chilling prediction after devastating fires

Daily Mail  

amid the ongoing wildfires burning hundreds of acres would 'completely upend the state' as it looks to rebuild. California home insurance CEO said the inability to insure homes Mike Zuckerman, CEO and president of the third-largest home insurance company in the Golden State, CSAA Insurance Group, issued an unsettling statement regarding insurance availability in California on Friday. Over the last few years, many California-based insurance companies have cited the risk of costly wildfires as a reason to stop writing new policies, decline renewal for customers or even leave the state altogether. Pictured: A neighborhood destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California Mike Zuckerman, CEO and president of the third-largest home insurance company in the Golden State, CSAA Insurance Group, issued an unsettling statement regarding insurance availability in California on Friday However, CSAA continues to write new policies in the state and renew the vast majority of existing ones. Pictured: An aerial view of fire trucks, utility, and other vehicles parked along Pacific Coast Highway near homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire Over the last few years, many California-based insurance companies have cited the risk of costly wildfires as a reason to stop writing new policies, decline renewal for customers or even leave the state altogether.

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California’s insurance commissioner faces criticism over ties to industry
1 month ago

California’s insurance commissioner faces criticism over ties to industry

LA Times  

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announces a plan in 2023 aimed at keeping insurance companies from leaving the wildfire-prone state. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara faces questions after L.A. fires California’s insurance market was already distressed as major firms pulled back from the state, ceasing to write new policies and declining to renew existing ones in communities deemed too at risk …

L.A. wildfires up the pressure on California’s insurance commissioner over industry ties
1 month ago

L.A. wildfires up the pressure on California’s insurance commissioner over industry ties

LA Times  

It has been more than a month since the harrowing wildfire swept through Pacific Palisades, and Marc Hara knows he should be grateful. “I’m so screwed.” VIDEO | 02:04 L.A. wildfires up the pressure on California’s insurance commissioner Share Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X LinkedIn Threads Reddit WhatsApp Copy Link URL Copied! “His regulations and his …

LA wildfires highlight nation’s insurance crisis as homeowners try to recover lost homes
1 month, 2 weeks ago

LA wildfires highlight nation’s insurance crisis as homeowners try to recover lost homes

Associated Press  

The nation’s growing home insurance crisis is in the spotlight as Californians begin the long road to rebuilding after the deadly Eaton and Palisades wildfires. Wilson will receive a fraction of what he needs because he was covered by the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan — the state’s bare-bones insurance program known as the FAIR Plan. The plan …

State Farm seeks an emergency insurance rate increase after LA wildfires. It’s the latest blow to California’s housing market
1 month, 2 weeks ago

State Farm seeks an emergency insurance rate increase after LA wildfires. It’s the latest blow to California’s housing market

CNN  

CNN — State Farm General, California’s largest insurance provider, has requested an emergency interim rate hike averaging 22% for homeowners from state officials on Monday, citing a “dire” financial situation after destructive Los Angeles wildfires last month. State Farm said the emergency interim rate hike was necessary to “help avert a dire situation for our customers and the insurance market …

LA wildfires may accelerate flight of home insurance companies
2 months ago

LA wildfires may accelerate flight of home insurance companies

Firstpost  

The devastating wildfires that are sweeping Los Angeles could push home insurance companies to leave California, despite new regulations meant to keep them, according to a report, citing the state’s former top insurance official. AP The devastating wildfires that are sweeping Los Angeles could push home insurance companies to leave California, despite new regulations meant to keep them, according to …

Altadena has avoided California’s fire insurance hell. That won’t last.
2 months, 1 week ago

Altadena has avoided California’s fire insurance hell. That won’t last.

Raw Story  

Randy and Miki Quinton held hands as they walked uphill into what remains of their neighborhood in Altadena, the unincorporated Los Angeles suburb where they had lived for more than 20 years. Unlike many fire victims in other parts of the L.A. area, the Quintons and many of their neighbors had been able to maintain their insurance policies in the …

How climate change is reshaping home insurance in California — and the rest of the U.S.
2 months, 1 week ago

How climate change is reshaping home insurance in California — and the rest of the U.S.

NPR  

How climate change is reshaping home insurance in California — and the rest of the U.S. toggle caption Agustin Paullier/AFP via Getty Images As the wildfires in Los Angeles tear through hillsides, raze neighborhoods and displace residents, it's too early to know how vast the destruction will be when the last of the flames is put out. Those final, unknown …

California wildfire ‘biggest scam’: Insurance companies cancel millions of policies, says Hollywood actor-director
2 months, 1 week ago

California wildfire ‘biggest scam’: Insurance companies cancel millions of policies, says Hollywood actor-director

Live Mint  

Hollywood actor-director Tyler Perry took to Instagram to express his frustration with insurance companies amidst the devastating California wildfire. According to the Los Angeles Times, insurance companies such as State Farm, Chubb and Allstate have either stopped renewing or writing new policies for homes in wildfire-prone areas. “Watching a daughter use a garden hose to try and protect her 90-year-old …

California's wildfires may also be catastrophic for its insurance market
2 months, 1 week ago

California's wildfires may also be catastrophic for its insurance market

NPR  

California's wildfires may also be catastrophic for its insurance market toggle caption Greg Allen/NPR ALTADENA, Calif. — Kwynn Perry visited her home this weekend for the first time since the Eaton Fire started. toggle caption Greg Allen/NPR Because insurance companies stopped writing new policies in these areas, many homeowners were forced to purchase coverage from California's FAIR plan. Sponsor Message …

First, they lost their home insurance. Then, L.A. fires consumed their homes
2 months, 1 week ago

First, they lost their home insurance. Then, L.A. fires consumed their homes

LA Times  

The charred remains of a home on Tonia Avenue in Altadena burned by the Eaton fire. Business How the devastating Los Angeles fires could deepen California’s home insurance crisis The massive fires that have destroyed much of Pacific Palisades and demolished thousands of homes and structures in Los Angeles County threaten an effort to fix California’s troubled home insurance market. …

How the wildfires in the Los Angeles area could affect California's home insurance market
2 months, 1 week ago

How the wildfires in the Los Angeles area could affect California's home insurance market

India Today  

SACRAMENTO: The wildfires that destroyed homes in multiple sections of the Los Angeles area will test California’s efforts to stabilize the state’s insurance marketplace after many insurers stopped issuing residential policies due to the high fire risk. California homeowners in wildfire-prone areas either go without insurance or join the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, which the state created as …

The LA wildfires will cause chaos for California’s home insurance market
2 months, 1 week ago

The LA wildfires will cause chaos for California’s home insurance market

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The wildfires that destroyed …

In California's blazing trails, a financial inferno threat to insurance business
2 months, 1 week ago

In California's blazing trails, a financial inferno threat to insurance business

Firstpost  

As premiums soar and coverage shrinks, Californians face a housing affordability crisis that could leave entire communities in ashes, both financially and socially Firefighters battle the fire in the Angeles National Forest near Mt. Insurance market in crisis California’s insurance industry is in a full-blown crisis with major companies pulling out and more homeowners relying on state-backed insurance programmes. According …

How the wildfires in Los Angeles area could affect California’s home insurance market
Trending News
2 months, 1 week ago

How the wildfires in Los Angeles area could affect California’s home insurance market

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The wildfires that destroyed homes in multiple sections of the Los Angeles area will test California’s efforts to stabilize the state’s insurance marketplace after many insurers stopped issuing residential policies due to the high fire risk. California homeowners in wildfire-prone areas either go without insurance or join the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, which the state …

California lawmakers to consider expediting insurance claims after L.A. fires
2 months, 1 week ago

California lawmakers to consider expediting insurance claims after L.A. fires

LA Times  

More than 9,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires, including those shown here in Altadena. As lawmakers regrouped Thursday after fiery devastation across Los Angeles, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas vowed to back legislation to help homeowners expedite insurance claims, while Senate leader Mike McGuire delivered a tearful floor speech addressing California’s “hellish week.” “Words …

The Los Angeles Fires Will Put California’s New Insurance Rules to the Test
55 years, 2 months ago

The Los Angeles Fires Will Put California’s New Insurance Rules to the Test

Wired  

This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Over the past five years, California has become a poster child for what climate-fueled weather disasters can do to a state’s home insurance market. “With input from thousands of residents throughout California, this reform balances protecting consumers with the need to strengthen our market against climate …

California homeowners face double whammy amid non-renewals of insurances as wildfires rage
2 months, 1 week ago

California homeowners face double whammy amid non-renewals of insurances as wildfires rage

Live Mint  

Los Angeles Fires: As wildfires continue to devastate large areas of Los Angeles, homeowners are grappling with a growing insurance crisis that complicates their recovery efforts. With nearly 2,000 structures destroyed and over 130,000 residents evacuated, the situation has become dire, prompting urgent discussions about the future of homeowners' insurance in California. The California insurance crisis refers to the increasing …

Home insurers under fire for policy cancellations as LA burns
2 months, 1 week ago

Home insurers under fire for policy cancellations as LA burns

Raw Story  

As deadly wildfire incinerated more than 1,000 homes and other structures in Los Angeles County this week, insurance companies are sparking outrage for having recently canceled homeowners' policies across California—including in some of the areas hit hardest by the current blazes. State Farm, one of California's largest insurers, announced last year that it would not renew 30,000 home insurance policies …

California overhauled its insurance system. Then Los Angeles caught fire.
2 months, 2 weeks ago

California overhauled its insurance system. Then Los Angeles caught fire.

Raw Story  

On Tuesday, after a ferocious Santa Ana windstorm blew through Southern California, a severe brush fire broke out in the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, burning 1,000 structures and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate as of Wednesday afternoon. “With input from thousands of residents throughout California, this reform balances protecting consumers with the need to …

California will soon require insurers to increase home coverage in wildfire-prone areas
Trending News
2 months, 3 weeks ago

California will soon require insurers to increase home coverage in wildfire-prone areas

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Insurance companies that stopped providing home coverage to hundreds of thousands of Californians in recent years as wildfires became more destructive will have to again provide policies in fire-prone areas if they want to keep doing business in California under a state regulation announced Monday. The rule will require home insurers to offer coverage in high-risk areas, …

State takes final step to fix California’s troubled home insurance market
2 months, 3 weeks ago

State takes final step to fix California’s troubled home insurance market

LA Times  

The state released another regulation Monday aimed at easing California’s home insurance crisis that will allow insurers to charge homeowners higher premiums to protect themselves from catastrophic wildfire claims. The regulation was praised by the American Property Casualty Insurance Assn., a trade group for home, auto and business insurers, which called the step “one of several critically needed reforms to …

Insurance commissioner prohibits policy cancellations for fire victims
6 months ago

Insurance commissioner prohibits policy cancellations for fire victims

LA Times  

A tattered U.S. flag hangs Sept. 11 on a Lake Elsinore property where a home and vintage cars were destroyed by the Airport fire. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has barred insurance companies from canceling residential coverage of some 750,000 policyholders affected by the Airport, Bridge and Line fires. The order issued Thursday protects residents within the fire zones or …

Is this the solution to California’s soaring insurance prices due to wildfire risk?
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Is this the solution to California’s soaring insurance prices due to wildfire risk?

LA Times  

In the past several years, homeowners across the state have been either burdened with extremely high insurance premiums or have struggled to find coverage at all. Earlier this month State Farm’s cancellations of 30,000 homeowner policies mostly in high wildfire risk areas, took effect. She is one of the many California homeowners struggling to maintain home insurance as costs increase …

California hopes to lure insurance companies back with extreme regulation overhaul
8 months, 3 weeks ago

California hopes to lure insurance companies back with extreme regulation overhaul

NPR  

California hopes to lure insurance companies back with extreme regulation overhaul California's wildfire risk is so high, numerous insurance companies have left the state. Now, as reporter Danielle Venton of member station KQED tells us, the state's hoping to lure the industry back with an extreme overhaul of how it regulates insurance. VENTON: That's California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara testifying …

With fires burning again, is California becoming uninsurable?
9 months ago

With fires burning again, is California becoming uninsurable?

LA Times  

Thursday marks the beginning of summer, but early wildfires have already scorched the outskirts of L.A. and the Bay Area. While the giant wildfires of 2017 and 2018 had a huge impact, requiring insurers to pay claims equivalent to more than 20 years of profits, the state’s insurance problems predate the fires. California’s failure to update the old rules governing …

California exodus of home insurance companies continues
11 months ago

California exodus of home insurance companies continues

LA Times  

A house burns near Ono, Calif., in a 2020 wildfire. Two more companies, Tokio Marine America Insurance Co. and Trans Pacific Insurance Co., have joined a growing number of home insurance providers that have pulled out of the wildfire-prone state. Two more insurers are pulling out of California’s troubled homeowners insurance market, straining a marketplace that already has seen the …

California’s home insurance crisis: What went wrong, how it can be fixed and what owners can do
11 months, 3 weeks ago

California’s home insurance crisis: What went wrong, how it can be fixed and what owners can do

LA Times  

Sheri Marchetti-Perrault and James Benton embrace as they sift through the remains of their home, which was destroyed by the McKinley fire near Yreka, Calif. The crisis reached new heights last week when leading insurer State Farm General announced that it wouldn’t renew 72,000 property owner policies statewide, joining Farmers, Allstate and other companies in either not writing or limiting …

Wildfire-prone California to consider new rules for property insurance pricing
1 year, 6 months ago

Wildfire-prone California to consider new rules for property insurance pricing

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will let insurance companies consider climate change when setting their prices, the state’s chief regulator announced Thursday, a move aimed at preventing insurers from fleeing the state over fears of massive losses from wildfires and other natural disasters. On Thursday, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said the state will write new rules to let insurers look …

California home insurers plan return to fire zones under new deal
1 year, 6 months ago

California home insurers plan return to fire zones under new deal

LA Times  

Firefighters enter a home in flames during the Saddleridge fire. After a summer that saw many of California’s top home insurers pull back from the state market, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Thursday that he struck a deal with the insurance industry to encourage new coverage in the state. Gavin Newsom also issued an executive order on Thursday afternoon commanding …

Column: Time to panic? The home insurance market in California is collapsing because of climate change
1 year, 6 months ago

Column: Time to panic? The home insurance market in California is collapsing because of climate change

LA Times  

As another legislative session draws to a close in Sacramento, the problem lawmakers failed to fix is one of the most urgent facing Californians: the slow-moving collapse of the property insurance market as costs from climate disasters mount. Throughout the United States, in different geographies, we’re reaching a point where climate change is driving to an uninsurable future,” said Dave …

Letters to the Editor: California doesn’t have a homeowner insurance crisis. It has a climate crisis
1 year, 9 months ago

Letters to the Editor: California doesn’t have a homeowner insurance crisis. It has a climate crisis

LA Times  

To the editor: The insurance dominoes are toppling everywhere. People who didn’t pay attention to the consequences of climate change before are taking notice now that their personal cost has a dollar sign. We can adapt to inevitable catastrophes only to a limited extent by “building safer communities.” We can move somewhere not endangered by wildfires, biblical storms and floods, …

Editorial: Climate change is making California more expensive. Home insurance is the latest bellwether
1 year, 9 months ago

Editorial: Climate change is making California more expensive. Home insurance is the latest bellwether

LA Times  

It’s bad news that California’s largest home insurance provider, State Farm, decided it’s too risky and expensive to sell new policies in the state. It’s even worse news that State Farm simply publicized what other insurance companies have been doing quietly for several years by refusing to renew policies and pulling out of communities at risk for wildfires. The company …

California aims to lower fire insurance costs for homeowners
2 years, 6 months ago

California aims to lower fire insurance costs for homeowners

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California moved Wednesday to become the first state to lower insurance costs for property owners who make improvements to reduce their fire risk, the state’s insurance commissioner said as wildfires again flared across the heat-stricken state. Lara said in a statement that the new regulations “will help more Californians find insurance they can afford” and “will save …

Wildfires cause turmoil in CA property insurance market
5 years, 2 months ago

Wildfires cause turmoil in CA property insurance market

India TV News  

Kent Michitsch seemed to be running out of traditional options to insure the home he’s lived in for more than 30 years northeast of San Diego as California’s massive property insurance market reels from three consecutive years of destructive wildfires. State Farm, the largest insurer in the state, Allstate and other insurers declined to renew roughly 350,000 policies in areas …

California bans insurers from dropping coverage to another 200,000 fire-prone homes
5 years, 3 months ago

California bans insurers from dropping coverage to another 200,000 fire-prone homes

LA Times  

The Sandalwood fire at the Calimesa Mobile Home Park left several people killed and many homes ruined. California on Wednesday expanded its one-year ban on home insurers dropping policies in wildfire-hit areas to include 200,000 more homes, including in San Bernardino County and Northern California, the Department of Insurance announced. “This wildfire insurance crisis has been years in the making, …

Column: California fires will result in higher insurance rates for homeowners
5 years, 4 months ago

Column: California fires will result in higher insurance rates for homeowners

LA Times  

The insurance industry says “three historically bad years for wildfires” will lead to rate hikes for most homeowners. Rates going forward have to reflect past losses.” Michael Soller, a spokesman for the state Department of Insurance, said his office has heard reports of rates tripling for some homeowners. “Homeowners insurance companies are imposing extreme rate hikes and abruptly non-renewing homeowners …

Parts of California are too wildfire-prone to insure
5 years, 6 months ago

Parts of California are too wildfire-prone to insure

Salon  

California is facing yet another real estate-related crisis, but we’re not talking about its sky-high home prices. Last winter when we wrote about home insurance rates possibly going up in the wake of California’s massive, deadly fires, the insurance industry representatives we interviewed were skeptical. But now, the data is in and it’s really happening: Insurance companies aren’t renewing policies …

California plans takeover of property insurer overwhelmed by Camp fire claims
6 years, 3 months ago

California plans takeover of property insurer overwhelmed by Camp fire claims

LA Times  

An aerial view of a neighborhood in Paradise, Calif., shows the destruction from the Camp fire, which burned nearly 14,000 homes. California officials will take over a small insurance company that has been overwhelmed by claims from property owners in Paradise whose homes were leveled by the Camp fire. According to a Department of Insurance handout on the liquidation process, …

As California fire disasters worsen, insurers are pulling out and stranding homeowners
6 years, 6 months ago

As California fire disasters worsen, insurers are pulling out and stranding homeowners

LA Times  

The ruins of a home that burned in the 2015 Valley Fire in Middletown. Lake County residents were among the first to confront the insurance issue after the Valley fire in October 2015, which destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings in Lake, Sonoma and Napa counties and at the time ranked as the fifth-worst wildfire insurance disaster in California’s history. “A healthy …

California as a model for climate policy
12 years, 9 months ago

California as a model for climate policy

Al Jazeera  

Many innovations in the fight against climate change have come out of this nature-friendly state. “California can get away with making such demands… companies want access to that market… they accept the state’s requirements“ Among the questions California regulators asked the companies are: “How do you account for climate change in your risk management?”. “California has the most aggressive Renewable …

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