Judge Allows State Farm to Implement Rate Hike in California
WASHINGTON — In a ruling released this morning, an administrative judge in California has allowed State Farm Insurance to hike the rates for homeowners insurance by 22% for homeowners, 15% for renters or condo insurance, and 38% for rental dwelling policies as soon as June. The ruling comes despite reports as recent as October that State Farm has boosted profits for its parent company at the expense of California policyholders, only to ask the state to raise rates. In response, Rick Morris, insurance campaigner with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:
“The survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires deserve better. Their stories of financial and emotional devastation after fighting with State Farm are heartbreaking and are an indictment of the state of the insurance industry. Regulators like Commissioner Lara need to hold insurance giants like State Farm accountable to paying out what they owe, not reward them with rate hikes.
“Working people throughout the U.S. are paying the price for climate change as insurance companies abandon entire states and spike home insurance rates. The effects of climate change are here and they are only going to grow more costly without urgent action to mitigate climate change. We desperately need regulators to protect frontline communities and working people from exploitation by giant insurance companies.”
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