Amid a local and statewide insurance crisis, the California Insurance Commissioner’s office sent representative Richie Sayavong to Santa Cruz County on Tuesday to discuss the current struggles with the board of supervisors and lay out the ways the office is trying to mitigate impacts. He participated in an insurance forum in Scotts Valley later Tuesday night.
insurance
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Californians are protecting themselves from wildfire. Why is there still an insurance crisis?
As some insurance companies, citing growing risks and costs, have paused or stopped writing new policies in California, lawmakers want mitigation measures to be tracked, updated and accounted for to help insurance availability and affordability.
Posted inLatest News
California insurance chief, Farmers CEO ‘look outside’ for answers to insurance crisis
Government officials, insurance industry representatives, nonprofits and academics from around the nation and world gathered in Los Angeles for a summit this week — in a state where residents are dealing with higher premiums for homeowners and auto insurance, with some of them finding it tough to get insured at all. That includes nearly 4,300 Santa Cruz County residents who learned recently that State Farm was not renewing their home insurance policies.
Posted inHousing & Development
Thousands of Santa Cruz homeowners scramble to find new insurance after State Farm non-renewals
Nearly 4,300 Santa Cruz County residents learned recently that State Farm isn’t renewing their home insurance policies as part of a broad pullback by the insurance giant across the state. Several told Lookout they’re concerned about rising costs and risks.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California insurance market ‘in chaos,’ says former insurance chief. Can the new chief fix it?
Insurance non-renewals continue even as Commissioner Ricardo Lara introduces regulations favored by the industry.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Election 2024: In the post-CZU Santa Cruz Mountains, rugged individualism meets bureaucratic red tape
As District 5 voters prepare to cast their votes for a new county supervisor, no issue stands more prominently than Santa Cruz County’s failure to shepherd through a more efficient rebuild after the 2020 CZU fire. Voters in the Santa Cruz Mountains say it’s time to fundamentally change government.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
350,000 Californians are now on the FAIR Plan, the last resort for fire insurance. Now what?
As the FAIR Plan writes more fire-insurance policies, homeowners complain about poor service, rising costs and threats of getting kicked off.
Posted inLatest News
‘Prompt action’ on fire insurance has yet to help California homeowners
While state regulators craft new regulations and consult with the insurance industry, many Californians are paying extra-high premiums — or going without insurance entirely.
Posted inLatest News
California home insurers plan return to fire zones under new deal
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Thursday that he struck a deal with the insurance industry to encourage new coverage in the state. Insurers, Lara said, agreed to return to the high-risk fire zones in the hills and canyons of California in exchange for a number of concessions that will make it easier, in theory, for them to get higher rate increases through the state regulator more quickly.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
With no insurance deal in Sacramento, when will California’s homeowners get relief?
The deadline for a deal to address the home insurance market came and went in the California Legislature, but the problem persists.
