Tag: California Department of Insurance

California legislators fail to repair home insurance market before end of session

Nordstrom
Home insurance - Failure and frustration

Though several deals arrived at the last moment, none of them included the sought-after proposal. Even as a slew of deals appeared at the last moment ahead of the close of California’s legislative session, none were the home insurance market fix many were waiting for to help keep insurers in the state despite the rapidly climbing wildfire risks. The key deadline came and went without a bill that would help to stave off a crisis in the state. As a new home insurance bill didn’t appear in the last session,…

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GEICO suddenly stops selling California auto insurance policies by phone or in-person

Logan B.
Auto insurance - Online - California

The insurer has shut offices, laid of hundreds of people and isn’t selling in any way other than online. GEICO has stopped selling California auto insurance policies by phone or in person, while regulators have said that they are monitoring the situation. All 38 of the insurer’s agent offices in California have now been closed and workers laid off. California drivers with GEICO auto insurance policies are still covered and it is still possible to sign up for new coverage online. That said, the in-person offices are all closed, and…

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Auto Club Insurance files for $202 million California car insurance rate increase

G. Turner
Car insurance - Increase in Rates

Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s office has received the request to let the company hike premiums. Auto Club Insurance has filed for an overall California car insurance rate hike of 6.9 percent. This will impact 1.44 million policyholders and the total of 2.68 million vehicles they have insured through that provider. The rate increase will mean an average annual hike in premiums of $75 per vehicle ($140 per policy). There have already been several insurers that have filed in California to be able to increase their car insurance rates for new and…

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Consumer Watchdog says California Commissioner should stop Mercury’s insurance rate discrimination

Logan B.
Auto Insurance rate discrimination

The group sent a signature-filled petition to Commissioner Lara regarding job-related premiums calculations. Consumer Watchdog has issued a letter containing a petition to California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, calling for him to reject insurer Mercury’s insurance rate discrimination practices. The group wants the commissioner to stop the proposed rate hike based on job- and education-related calculations. Mercury has proposed a $131 million hike to its total auto premiums, and Consumer Watchdog has called for Commissioner Lara to reject it as well as the insurance rate discrimination it says the insurer…

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California Commissioner Lara places green investment onus on insurance companies

G. Turner
Insurance companies - Green Investment

A new report detailed how insurers have funded fossil fuel companies and the impact it has had. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara recently released a report and webpage in which he detailed the investments insurance companies have made into fossil fuel. The report and webpage are components of the commissioner’s broader efforts by the Commissioner. Commissioner Lara has used this report on investments into fossil fuels by insurance companies as a part of his broader strategy to protect Californian consumers from the impact of climate change. The state is making…

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New California homeowners’ insurance and home hardening bill introduced

Marc
California homeowners insurance - person signing paper

The legislation would require mandatory policy issuance and create a residential grant program. A new California homeowners insurance bill was introduced by Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-Marin County) to require mandatory issuance of policies. It would also form a new grant program for residential home hardening for properties in areas with a sizeable wildfire risk. Assembly Bill 1755 would require insurers to provide coverage to customers that have hardened their property. Assembly Bill 1755 would require that California homeowners’ insurance companies must issue a policy to property owners in the state…

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Homeowners insurance non-renewal protection issued to several Californian communities

Nordstrom
Homeowners Insurance Non-Renewal - neighborhood in California

Residents of almost 2.4M homes will benefit from a one-year moratorium against wildfire risk cancellation. Almost 2.4 million policyholders will be protected against homeowners insurance non-renewal for the next year. Millions of property owners faced having their policies cancelled due to increased wildfire risk. The historic wildfires that blaze their way through the state every year have caused homeowners insurance non-renewal trends to skyrocket in California. This has threatened the ability of many residents to find affordable coverage, or any coverage at all. That said, on December 31, California Insurance…

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