Posted on 07/02/2024 5:28:56 AM PDT by dennisw
READ MORE: The insurance on my 2012 Mazda went up 72% to $233 a month!'
A prominent insurance provider has aired an ultimatum to the entire state of California.
The firm, State Farm General, asked the state’s Department of Insurance Thursday to let them raise residential insurance rates for millions of citizens, or see them move out.
The move indicates financial trouble for the insurance giant, which currently covers homes razed by wildfires.
State Farm disclosed it is seeking a 30 percent rate hike for homeowners, a 36 percent increase for condo owners, and a 52 percent increase for renters as a result - a move that would only worsen the state’s already present housing crisis.
'This has the potential to affect millions of California consumers and the integrity of our residential property insurance market,' insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a statement - as the filings make their way through the proper channels.
He added how he was now keen to 'get to the bottom' of the company’s financial situation - and will conduct an extensive review before deciding on the applications as a result.
'State Farm General’s latest rate filings raise serious questions about its financial condition,' he said of the number one insurance firm in the US.
He added how a rate hearing may even necessary, offering his commission an opportunity to hear from the public about the proposed rate changes.
Only then, he said, would officials make a decision on whether to approve the requests - a process that could end up taking months.
As it stands, the department is averaging 180 days per rate review, with some cases taking even longer, a department spokesperson confirmed to the LA Times.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I wonder how much of that might be the fault of the local agent. My next door neighbor's house, insured with State Farm, was destroyed by a fire last year. From what my neighbor relayed to me they were pleased with how State Farm handled everything.
In my state companies are allowed to have surcharges for accidents (at least “at fault” ones),tickets and at least some claims.
I’ve been with State Farm basically since owning my first car. Had to drop my home owner’s policy a few years ago; I am on S.S. & I guess that State Farm doesn’t consider that as part of your ability to pay. Anyway, if the company is no smarter than to insure very expensive homes that are in a dangerous fire zone, then I can understand their financial woes. I just don’t believe in allowing it to be part of MY financial woes. Let them go go broke as they must consider that they can’t continually go on by just raising premiums. EVERYONE is affected by this inflation business; it’s just that the little consumer at the bottom end has no place left to turn to.
I might add that I don’t believe I’ve ever had a payable accident claim on my auto insurance in ALL those years.
Lots of areas of this state burn every few decades.
Why should I, as an insurance company, write a policy to cover a home you built in an area that has had a major fire every 20-50 years for the last several thousand?
Redwood trees won’t even propagate without fire (their thick bark defends against almost all normal wildfires, at least it did until we decided to fight *all* fires).
There are lovely areas here in Northern California. Even communities of Constitution-loving ‘good ol’ boys and gals. Hippies, artists, ‘off-grid’ folks. And they are living in areas that ***WILL*** burn in the next 25 years.
If you want a company to insure a house with a 1 in 20 chance of burning in a given year, then they are going to have to charge 1/20th of that value each year (OK, an oversimplification, but basic principle).
I have USAA too. My car and home rates went up 50% here in Texas from last year. And this is what I had to deal with:
1. Hail storm damaged roofs (house and large shed with patio overhangs)
All my neighbors got their new roofs while I was fighting. It took 6 months and 3 adjusters to finally approve. Major fight and plenty of pictures. Well, when they finally agreed, my shed got 1 shingle...ONE SHINGLE. Another round of fighting and USAA finally came thru.
2. I walked in the kitchen one day and had a puddle of water. No above surface leaks found. Figured it was a leak beneath the slab. Called USAA and they said, “Sorry, not covered. Nothing in or below the slab is covered. And any damage incurred thereof.”
Luckily it happened to be ground seepage from heavy rains. In the end, screw ‘em. But lucky for you having your rates go down.
Should the insurer’s move out, then could it be the mortgage companies/banks next?
It would be extremely dangerous territory to underwrite a loan, especially in California given their annual fires, and let’s not forget earthquakes and mudslides; without having that asset be insured.
The only other alternatives to that would be paying cash for the house/townhouse, or having people with the means to cover the overpriced home, and now the overpriced insurance.
Rental companies typically require renters insurance as part of the agreement. Are they supposed to forego that as well out of the kindness of their heart?
California is a clear example of how government should not operate and what they need to steer clear of as it relates to policy.
Actuaries are paying higher rates too. Nobody believes Biden’s numbers.
Yes, my insurance went up, but only because I increased the coverage amount to account for replacing solar panels and other equipment (as well as the rest of the house). There's no solar rider or anything like that to charge solar users more. I asked my insurance agent about that as part of my detailed research on whether or not to use solar.
It's simply a matter of fact that rebuilding the house after a tornado or whatever would cost more if I also had to replace the solar equipment too. Thus I needed my coverage amount to be higher. Thus when I talked about it with my insurance agent my premiums went up to correspond with the higher coverage amount. Also, I have newer, more expensive, appliances like a variable speed heat pump and a hybrid water heater.
And after having all of that for a year, studying the telemetry and liking it as much as I hoped I would, I proceeded to add onto my solar to the full amount I wanted originally. (I call it Phase II but only after Phase I proved how it worked over the seasons.) I also replaced my wife's gas crossover with an EV crossover (since it was time to replace her car anyway). Again, before doing so I asked my insurance agent -- there's no EV fee in the insurance premiums. But I pay more in insurance for the facts that: A) I shifted from liability only coverage to full coverage, and B) replacing a more expensive EV would cost more than a comparable gas car. I even told him that we planned on driving the EV car a lot more and drive the gas pickup very little (which has been the case for the past 2 years). Likewise, I increased the coverage amount on my homeowners insurance again in case I have to replace the additions to my solar equipment.
All of those details are part of the research one should do before going solar and, if so, how much you do so that you can take advantage of the economies of scale, but not try to invest so much into it that you're fighting the law of diminishing returns. It's not hard math. It's not calculus. But it's a lot of details to sketch out.
For us it's been worth it. It's a really sweet feeling to be 80% energy self-reliant, including charging the EV, and the Dims' stupid warmageddon cult energy policies messing up our budget only 20% as much as they would if we had to buy all of our energy. I pay fixed higher insurance premiums and a somewhat fixed loan payment for a loan I took out to pay for the equipment and labor, so I can have a very low power bill, no natural gas bill, and virtually no cost at the gas pump. The energy costs we mostly avoid keep going up, while the loan payment goes down (as the HELOC's balance is paid down, the minimum payment goes down too). If the loan payment is the cost of saving on energy costs, then next year it'll cost me less (lower loan payments) to save more (energy costing more next year than this year). And the next year it'll cost me even less to save even more.
Meanwhile, the energy portion of my budget is fixed like it's still year 2019. What it cost me in year 2019 for power bill + natural gas bill + gasoline + what I put aside to a car savings account to repair/replace the next used car, that's how much I now pay for tiny power bill + EV car payment (2 years left in 4 year car loan) + increase in insurance premiums. It costs now more than 2019 did (with the car payments), so I take the difference out of the HELOC. Then when I got the EV credit and still get the solar tax credits (they're not refundable, but carry forward to the next year), I use that tax refund to pay the HELOC back down. The solar tax credit will end the same year I'll finish the car payments. Then my energy/car portion of my budget will quickly pay down the loan. The loan will be paid off 7 years from now, which is 9 years of owning the EV and 10-11 years of owning the solar equipment. This is even with the math on my power bills slowly rising both from inflation and from the fact that the warranties on by my solar equipment and my EV account for a linear degradation in throughput.
Lots of homework to do before recreating what I did to make sure it works for your situation. It's not for everybody. And I hate the tax credits -- all they did was artificially inflate my up front costs anyway, only for the government to give me back some of that in the hope that I think they're doing me a favor. But I promise you, that level of homework is worth it if it frees your budget from most of the effects of the Dims' energy policies. Add to it the fact that I rarely need the grid for 8 months out of the year, and it's given me a cushion in case the Dims make the grid unreliable (at least during those 8 warm months, which is when the grid demand is highest in Alabama).
There are a lot of people getting settlements for “hail” damage.
State Farm has been wonderful for me, and for us when my husband was alive. You may have had a bad local rep.
Don’t mind the Maggots!
Some newer cars with alot more technology and technology related electronic parts and more stuff crammed into the engine bay, have become (a) easier to diagnose a problem, but (b) more expensive to repair than many older cars.(**)EVS are proving to have more expensive maintenance and repair track records than ICE cars, inspite having fewer mechanical parts. Some states have obatined higher auto repair costs, than a national average, than other states for many different reasons. Accident, fire and theft rates vary by state. California I imagine has a combination of negative factors regarding costs of things insurers are covering.
(**) I remeber an article not long ago where someone was reporting the exposion of how many actual parts (mostly due to electronics and computer related technology) that newer cars have today. The report mentioned that with just one make and model car, comaparing the number of parts in the font end of the car 20 years ago, with how many parts in the front end the same make and model has today, went from 70 some parts to over two hundred recently. So, even with a simple collision that crumples the front end, the possible parts that can be damanged and need to be replaced has exploded.
"...and hey gringo, thanks for the catalytic converters too, LOL"
The day-to-day operations of USAA are now run by civilians; some of whom spent a few years in the military.
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The worst destructive influence has been the college Marxist indoctrination programs. There is a new one being cooked up every six months it seems. Aspiring college students need to ditch the college nonsense, get a trade certification, and productively contribute to society instead of looking for government handouts while advancing the Marxist claptrap.
As I believe we have spoken about in the past, I have considered building a free standing array at my house.
I would build the frame and platform myself if it was a static array.
A friend in town has a solar tracking array. I pass by his house everyday to and from work. It sits out in the middle of his pasture. There is not a tree within 150’ or more of it. He said it cost $32K to install prior to any tax incentives.
However, his calculations are that it will pay off years quicker than if he had built a static array. He does not have batteries. So, his calculations are entirely based on the NET METERING locked in with Eversource and the state of NH.
Heck, it cost money to replace a jacked car from a repeat offender that the Soros DA refuses to prosecute.
bye
A lot of REIs are “self insuring” now. Or semi self insuring. Selecting a deductible that is quite high in line with their savings. I’ll probably be doing that either late this year or next year. We have 11 doors in NYS 6 of which are under gut rehab and 5 are active. I have one vacancy which is taking a loooong time to fill since the tenants are so undesirable.
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