Largest home insurer in the country no longer offering policies in California (Whittier: contractors, live in)

[Tulemutt]

Consumer group accuses Allstate, State Farm of extortion after insurers halt new home policies in CA
"They're not losing money. Their profits in California on homeowners insurance are four times the national average," said the group's founder Harvey Rosenfield. "Over the last 20 to 25 years, they've take in tens of billions of dollars more than they've paid out in claims during that time."
https://abc7.com/consumer-watchdog-n...ance/13348425/

[Thekdog]

They're also leaving Florida so it's not clear it's anything with California, although the insurance commissioner has been making it more costly for insurers to provide insurance

[TheGoodUsernamesWereTaken]

Originally Posted by njbiodude

https://www.ocregister.com/2023/05/2...ifornia/am:pp/

State Farm will no longer off limits new policies due to fires, construction costs rising “much faster the man inflation”, and a “challenging reinsurance market”

That or they have info we don't, like the next approx 8.0.

[TheGoodUsernamesWereTaken]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

State Farm is the only insurance company in California?

Did their ad / PR campaigns convince you they are the good guys in white hats just here to help? Hahahahahahahaha. Um, no.

Insurance business is, imho, one of the, if not THE, very worst bunch of opportunists and thieves to ever exist on earth. And what is going on with this decision is the same as goes on with insurance companies everywhere. They assess the risk numbers and reassess constantly. Any circumstance that doesn’t keep the odds to their extreme favor - gets the axe. Check out Florida especially. Check out limitations of coverage in tornado states. Check out flood-prone areas. This is nothing new. And where the old standard bearers decide to pullout new vultures will come in with dazzling rates to cover risks.

State Farm was the there for us, like a good neighbor should be.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Consumer group accuses Allstate, State Farm of extortion after insurers halt new home policies in CA
"They're not losing money. Their profits in California on homeowners insurance are four times the national average," said the group's founder Harvey Rosenfield. "Over the last 20 to 25 years, they've take in tens of billions of dollars more than they've paid out in claims during that time."
https://abc7.com/consumer-watchdog-n...ance/13348425/

None of his allegations are shown or explained in the article and his comparison of losses to premiums with no mention of taxes, expenses etc. is obvious sleight of hand dishonesty.

I also noted his arbitrarily selected timeframe starts after the Northridge earthquake and may miss some bad fire years too.

But populism sells and the public is largely ignorant.

[Mathguy]

FYI- 2021 Market share for the two was 13+%.

https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-cons...wa_Revised.pdf

[Mathguy]

Here is a pretty good article on the topic for those interested.

https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/...nia-insurance/

[Thekdog]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

None of his allegations are shown or explained in the article and his comparison of losses to premiums with no mention of taxes, expenses etc. is obvious sleight of hand dishonesty.

I also noted his arbitrarily selected timeframe starts after the Northridge earthquake and may miss some bad fire years too.

But populism sells and the public is largely ignorant.

Can I opt out of these "consumer" groups representing me

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Thekdog

Can I opt out of these "consumer" groups representing me

I looked them up, they're almost more like a politically linked lobbying group operation.

Don't donate money to them is all you can do as that's where the bulk of their funding comes from.

Probably why they're injecting themselves into this with a public disinformation campaign. Fundraising.

[bpollen]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Consumer group accuses Allstate, State Farm of extortion after insurers halt new home policies in CA
"They're not losing money. Their profits in California on homeowners insurance are four times the national average," said the group's founder Harvey Rosenfield. "Over the last 20 to 25 years, they've take in tens of billions of dollars more than they've paid out in claims during that time."
https://abc7.com/consumer-watchdog-n...ance/13348425/

Common sense says that if that were true, they wouldn't be pulling business out of the state. Don't take at face value what someone says is a company's profit, or the underlying data used, or what states those numbers apply to.

If a company is making hand over fists profits somewhere, they'll stay there.

The costs for these disasters are enormous, requiring a lot of money paying claims, plus the personnel to work on those claims almost 24X7 for months on end, arranging claims adjusters going to thousands upon thousands of properties to assess damages for each property, reviewing millions of claims (we turn in partial claims repeatedly after a disaster...one for roof, one for fascia, one for debris tree removal, one for new hot water tank, one for new or repair of a/c unit, one for painting and stain cover, reimbursement for emergency tarps for roof, one for....well, you get the idea. The claims roll in by the thousands daily. It requires an enormous staff, including the hiring of many independent contractors hired from around the country, incl the cost to fly them in, their housing, their transportation.

Add to this, the states require a certain (large) amount of money deposited with the state, if you want to do business in a disaster-prone area. This is to assure the state that you have dedicated funds on hand with the state, when a disaster hits.

In Florida, ins. companies pulled out of some areas...and some of the smaller ins. cos. went out of business. It's not just the amount of claims to be paid, it's the short period of time that the money needs to be used to pay those claims.

Then there are the lawsuits (mostly justified, from what I've seen) against the ins. cos., for not paying, or not paying promptly (our state has laws requiring the time period an ins. co. must pay a claim after the claim is turned in).

I live in a hurricane zone and plan to move. But this will be my third year post-double-hurricanes (and the ensuing damage) that I'm here. My fingers are crossed that I'll be safe this year and will be able to move soon after. I just haven't been able to get everything together...the house repaired & looking nice, getting rid of stuff so I don't have to move it, and finding a new town to move to that I can afford. Real estate has skyrocketed elsewhere, but not here. So although I'll probably make a small profit on my house, I don't know where I can move to yet. I'm by myself and inexperienced with this sort of situation, so it's been tough. I have family here, but they are no help. They are the reason I moved here after retirement, to begin with (my Dad insisted). He's trying to talk me into staying. He just doesn't understand. I ask him, "Dad, just what am I going to do when a hurricane hits & we have to evacuate, but I'm sick and can't leave, or I'm old and infirm?" That's the mindset of many, though. They're dug in. Their whole lives, their families, their friends are here. Most have never lived anywhere else. They will never leave.

I'm trying to decide whether to pull money out of my retirement account to buy a house in an area I want, or to lower my wants/needs in a new home, because of the increase in housing costs elsewhere.