State Farm says it will pay $7.6 billion for L.A. fires but reinsurance will slash losses
1 month ago

State Farm says it will pay $7.6 billion for L.A. fires but reinsurance will slash losses

LA Times  

State Farm General, California’s largest home insurer, estimated Tuesday that it will cost $7.6 billion to settle its Los Angeles-area fire claims, but it said reinsurance will lower its losses to about $612 million. Business Insurance commissioner rejects State Farm’s request for 22% emergency rate hike Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Friday rejected State Farm General’s request for an emergency 22% home insurance rate hike due to the Los Angeles fires unless the insurer can provide more evidence it is warranted. Even so, S&P Global on Tuesday afternoon announced that it had put State Farm General’s AA financial rating on a negative watch, citing its “weak underwriting performance over the past five years” and “potential earnings pressure in 2025, largely from the recent California wildfires.” State Farm General released its loss figures one day before a meeting with state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, after its request for an emergency hike of 22% in its home insurance rates. In announcing its losses Tuesday, State Farm General said its request was not based on its Los Angeles-area wildfire losses, though it noted the fires would reduce the company’s surplus by an additional $400 million.

General Emergency California Company Los Los Angeles Rate Farm Lara Request Losses State Farm General State Farm State Insurance Its Request Fires State  la  farm  company  fires  state  insurance  losses  reinsurance  billion  request  emergency  76  general  rate  los  pay  slash

History of this topic

Insurance commissioner ‘provisionally’ grants State Farm’s 22% rate hike
1 week, 5 days ago

Insurance commissioner ‘provisionally’ grants State Farm’s 22% rate hike

LA Times  

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara “provisionally” granted State Farm General’s request for an emergency 22% hike in its homeowners insurance rate Friday — but it won’t take effect pending a formal hearing scheduled for next month. Last month, S&P Global put the State Farm General’s AA financial rating on a negative watch, citing its “weak underwriting performance over the past …

State Farm executive fired over comments about rate hikes
2 weeks, 5 days ago

State Farm executive fired over comments about rate hikes

LA Times  

A top State Farm executive was fired this week after saying the insurer’s California rate hikes are “kind of” orchestrated and after making disparaging remarks about Pacific Palisades homeowners that were caught on an undercover video. Haden Kirkpatrick, State Farm Mutual’s vice president for innovation and venture capital, was recorded saying that the request by its California subsidiary for rate …

Farmers announces initial $600-million loss for Los Angeles fires
1 month, 1 week ago

Farmers announces initial $600-million loss for Los Angeles fires

LA Times  

Farmers Insurance, the state’s second-largest home insurer, said it expects to lose at least $600 million from the Los Angeles fires, a substantially smaller figure than some other major insurers have announced. The Los Angeles-based company said the figure includes payments from its reinsurance program but not an expected assessment from the FAIR Plan, the state’s home insurer of last …

Insurance commissioner rejects State Farm’s request for 22% emergency rate hike
1 month, 1 week ago

Insurance commissioner rejects State Farm’s request for 22% emergency rate hike

LA Times  

California’s insurance commissioner on Friday turned down a request by State Farm General for an emergency 22% hike of its home insurance rates due to the Los Angeles wildfires, saying the company hadn’t proven it was warranted. Business State Farm seeks emergency rate increase averaging 22% after L.A. fires State Farm General asked Monday for an emergency rate increase averaging …

California’s insurer for people without private coverage needs $1 billion more for LA fires claims
Trending News
1 month, 2 weeks ago

California’s insurer for people without private coverage needs $1 billion more for LA fires claims

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s plan that provides insurance to homeowners who can’t get private coverage needs $1 billion more to pay out claims related to the Los Angeles wildfires, the state Insurance Department said Tuesday. The FAIR Plan is an insurance pool that all the major private insurers pay into, and the plan then issues policies to people who can’t …

State farm was all in on California—until it pulled the plug before the fires
1 month, 2 weeks ago

State farm was all in on California—until it pulled the plug before the fires

Live Mint  

After the pandemic, most home insurers were fleeing wildfire-prone areas of California. State Farm’s “rate requests and underwriting decisions were made to try to appropriately match price to risk" in the state, it said. “State Farm was the only—and I mean the only—big insurer that would take everything" in that period, said Timothy Gaspar, who owns an independent insurance agency …

Allstate expects $1.1 billion in losses from Los Angeles fires
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Allstate expects $1.1 billion in losses from Los Angeles fires

LA Times  

Allstate said this week that it expects to lose $1.1 billion due to the Los Angeles fires, making it the second major insurer to announce the financial impact of the country’s single most costly blaze. Business State Farm seeks emergency rate increase averaging 22% after L.A. fires State Farm General asked Monday for an emergency rate increase averaging 22%, saying …

State Farm wants to hike insurance rates in California by 22% just weeks after fires tore through LA
1 month, 3 weeks ago

State Farm wants to hike insurance rates in California by 22% just weeks after fires tore through LA

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 State Farm Insurance, the …

State Farm seeks emergency rate increase averaging 22% after L.A. fires
1 month, 3 weeks ago

State Farm seeks emergency rate increase averaging 22% after L.A. fires

LA Times  

Wind whipped embers fly over a home on Vinedo Avenue during the Eaton fire on January 7 in Altadena. State Farm General, California’s largest home insurer, asked state officials for an emergency rate hike averaging 22% Monday, saying the Los Angeles County fires have put the company in dire financial straits. State Farm said the latest request is necessary to …

State Farm seeks an emergency insurance rate increase after LA wildfires. It’s the latest blow to California’s housing market
1 month, 3 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: Is insurance the next battlefront for California residents?
2 months, 1 week ago

LA wildfires: Is insurance the next battlefront for California residents?

Al Jazeera  

Before the Los Angeles wildfires, insurers such as State Farm started to pull out of fire-prone California. Brooklyn-based reporter Jake Bittle told the PBS network that State Farm and other insurers dropped or limited policies in California because “the state of California had limited the amount that insurance companies could charge to their customers.” In 1988, California passed a ballot …

State Farm expands renewal offers to all L.A. County policyholders slated to have been dropped
2 months, 1 week ago

State Farm expands renewal offers to all L.A. County policyholders slated to have been dropped

LA Times  

State Farm said Thursday it was expanding an offer to renew residential policies it had intended to drop last year to all Los Angeles County customers. State Farm said in March that it would not renew roughly 30,000 homeowners, rental dwelling owners and residential community associations, as well as business properties. State Farm said Thursday it has received more than …

Insurance cost of Los Angeles wildfires may be felt in Australia
2 months, 1 week ago

Insurance cost of Los Angeles wildfires may be felt in Australia

ABC  

California's devastating wildfires have exposed an insurance crisis plaguing many disaster-prone areas around the world, and risk pushing up premiums in Australia. "We need to assume that there are more who are also underinsured or not insured at all in Australia because premiums have gone up so much, and due to cost of living," Professor Jarzabkowski said. "Insurance is basically …

First, they lost their home insurance. Then, L.A. fires consumed their homes
2 months, 2 weeks 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, 2 weeks 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, 2 weeks 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, 2 weeks 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, 2 weeks 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 …

How the devastating Los Angeles fires could deepen California’s home insurance crisis
2 months, 2 weeks ago

How the devastating Los Angeles fires could deepen California’s home insurance crisis

LA Times  

When raging wildfires tore through Pacific Palisades and other local communities this week, they not only left a path of destruction reminiscent of a World War II bombing campaign, but threatened to deepen a crisis that has already left hundreds of thousands of Californians struggling to find and keep affordable homeowners insurance. This just proves insurers’ point that the risk …

LA fires: Five dead in wildfires as firefighters battle blaze in Pacific Palisades — as it happened
2 months, 2 weeks ago

LA fires: Five dead in wildfires as firefighters battle blaze in Pacific Palisades — as it happened

ABC  

With thousands of structures already confirmed to have been destroyed by fires, California residents may be facing a crisis in their efforts to claim insurance. State Farm General Insurance Company — previously the largest insurer in California — announced in an open letter to the state’s commissioner of insurance that it would be winding down its coverage in March last …

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 Farm accused of funneling excess profits to parent as it seeks rate hike
4 months, 3 weeks ago

State Farm accused of funneling excess profits to parent as it seeks rate hike

LA Times  

State Farm General, California’s largest home insurer, is being accused of boosting the profits of its parent company at the expense of state policyholders — while claiming it’s in financial distress and in need of a 30% rate hike. The company bought hundreds of millions of dollars of excess reinsurance from parent State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. over the …

As Wildfires Rage, California’s Insurance Market Is in Crisis
5 months, 3 weeks ago

As Wildfires Rage, California’s Insurance Market Is in Crisis

Wired  

California is in the middle of a wildfire crisis. Just this past month, Southern California has seen three of the most severe fires in recent memory, while it recently took firefighters more than two months to contain the fourth-largest fire in the state’s history. Rates are also up at California’s largest insurer, State Farm, and it, too, has chosen to …

State Farm seeks major rate hikes for California homeowners and renters
8 months, 3 weeks ago

State Farm seeks major rate hikes for California homeowners and renters

LA Times  

A house near Ono, Calif., goes up in flames during a 2020 wildfire. State Farm General is seeking to dramatically increase residential insurance rates for millions of Californians, a move that would deepen the state’s ongoing crisis over housing coverage. “State Farm General’s latest rate filings raise serious questions about its financial condition,” Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner, said in …

Upscale Westside L.A. neighborhoods hit very hard by State Farm home insurance cancellations
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Upscale Westside L.A. neighborhoods hit very hard by State Farm home insurance cancellations

LA Times  

A firefighter watches as flames approach the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood in Brentwood during the Getty fire in 2019. Thousands of Californians who won’t see their home insurance renewed by State Farm this summer are homeowners in Los Angeles County, with some upscale Westside neighborhoods hit hard, according to the insurer’s recent filings with the Department of Insurance. Last month, State …

State Farm won’t renew 72,000 insurance policies in California, worsening the state’s insurance crisis
1 year ago

State Farm won’t renew 72,000 insurance policies in California, worsening the state’s insurance crisis

LA Times  

The California homeowners’ insurance crisis reached another critical stage this week when State Farm General Insurance announced that it would not renew policies for 72,000 property owners across the state. “State Farm General’s decision today raises serious questions about its financial situation — questions the company must answer to regulators.” State Farm’s decision not to renew policies comes as thousands …

State Farm is NOT there: California's largest insurer will discontinue coverage of 72,000 homes in the state over inflation and risk of CATASTROPHES like wildfires and floods
1 year ago

State Farm is NOT there: California's largest insurer will discontinue coverage of 72,000 homes in the state over inflation and risk of CATASTROPHES like wildfires and floods

Daily Mail  

California's largest insurance company will stop offering insurance to 72,000 homes across the state due to the increased risk of natural disasters and the effects of inflation. State Farm General cited soaring costs, the increasing risk of catastrophes like wildfires and outdated regulations as reasons it won´t renew the policies. State Farm will discontinue coverage for 72,000 houses and apartments …

State Farm discontinuing 72,000 home policies in California in latest blow to state insurance market
1 year ago

State Farm discontinuing 72,000 home policies in California in latest blow to state insurance market

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — State Farm will discontinue coverage for 72,000 houses and apartments in California starting this summer, the insurance giant said this week, nine months after announcing it would not issue new home policies in the state The Illinois-based company, California’s largest insurer, cited soaring costs, the increasing risk of catastrophes like wildfires and outdated regulations as reasons it …

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 …

Farmers Insurance lays off 2,400 workers as insurers pull back from California
1 year, 6 months ago

Farmers Insurance lays off 2,400 workers as insurers pull back from California

LA Times  

A car drives through flooding during Tropical Storm Hilary in Lincoln Park on Aug. 20. “Given the existing conditions of the insurance industry and the impact they are having on our business, we need to take decisive actions today to better position Farmers for future success,” Raul Vargas, president and chief executive of Farmers Group, said in the layoff announcement …

State Farm’s California freeze: Looming insurance apocalypse or political ploy?
1 year, 9 months ago

State Farm’s California freeze: Looming insurance apocalypse or political ploy?

LA Times  

Many insurers have stopped issuing homeowners policies in places like Sonoma and Napa, where the Glass Fire burned in 2020. When State Farm announced in May that the company would stop writing new homeowners insurance policies in California, it issued a two-paragraph statement by way of explanation. No big insurer would cover his house in recent years, so he was …

State Farm is no longer accepting property insurance applications in California
1 year, 9 months ago

State Farm is no longer accepting property insurance applications in California

LA Times  

Insurance giant State Farm is no longer accepting new applications for business or personal property coverage in California. “State Farm General Insurance Company made this decision due to historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure and a challenging reinsurance market.” Automobile insurance is not affected by the change, which took effect Saturday. “The factors driving State …

State Farm subsidiary to pay $100M for false Katrina claims
2 years, 7 months ago

State Farm subsidiary to pay $100M for false Katrina claims

Associated Press  

— State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., a subsidiary of State Farm Insurance, has agreed to pay the federal government $100 million in restitution over its alleged mishandling of flood insurance claims after Hurricane Katrina. The sisters said State Farm defrauded the National Flood Insurance Program by charging it for flood damage to a policyholder’s home when the destruction was …

Insurance claims at $9 billion from California fires
6 years, 3 months ago

Insurance claims at $9 billion from California fires

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Insurance claims from last month’s California wildfires already are at $9 billion and expected to increase, the state’s insurance commissioner announced Wednesday. About $7 billion in claims are from the Camp Fire that destroyed the Northern California city of Paradise and killed at least 86 people, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire in at least a century. …

Have State Farm renters’ or homeowners’ insurance? You may be getting a refund
7 years, 10 months ago

Have State Farm renters’ or homeowners’ insurance? You may be getting a refund

LA Times  

State Farm is issuing $13 million in refunds to comply with an order from the California Department of Insurance. The refunds stem from a bitter legal dispute centered on Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones’ decision to order State Farm to cut its rates as of Dec. 8. In December, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal put the refunds on …

State Farm files lawsuit to block historic rollback in insurance rates
8 years, 3 months ago

State Farm files lawsuit to block historic rollback in insurance rates

LA Times  

The California Department of Insurance has threatened to fine State Farm billions of dollars for not immediately complying with a state order to cut its rates. Last month, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones ordered more than $100 million in refunds for nearly 2 million State Farm policy owners, alleging the company charged excessive rates for its homeowners and renters insurance. …

State Farm to Sell Home Insurance in State Again
21 years, 6 months ago

State Farm to Sell Home Insurance in State Again

LA Times  

Times Staff Writer State Farm General Insurance Co., the largest provider of homeowners insurance in California, will end a 17-month moratorium on selling to new customers Oct. 1, a company spokesman said Tuesday. Another reason, he said, was a recent court decision striking down regulations promulgated by state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi that would have restricted insurers from relying on …

State Farm Won’t Write New Homeowners Policies
22 years, 11 months ago

State Farm Won’t Write New Homeowners Policies

LA Times  

TIMES STAFF WRITER State Farm General Insurance Co., California’s largest insurer of homes, said Monday it will no longer accept new homeowners business in the state because of a huge--and so far largely unexplained--surge in payouts over the last two years. “We’re much too big a market to ignore.” The number of individual claims made to State Farm has not …

Discover Related