California residents have been battling for years with insurance companies no longer willing to protect their homes, and in the months leading up to this week's wildfires, thousands of homes were damaged, including about 1,600 in the now devastated Pacific Palisades area. insurance contract was terminated.
According to the 2022 U.S. Census, nearly 80% of the approximately 8,900 occupied housing units in Los Angeles' Pacific Palisades are owner-occupied. data Retrieved by Point2Homes.
State Farm terminated a staggering 1,600 home insurance policies in the neighborhood in July, according to California Department of Insurance (CDI) spokesman Michael Solar. This corresponds to approximately 18% of owner-occupied housing. said CBS News Thursday.
August 2024 analysis A review of insurance data conducted by CBS found that State Farm also handles more than 2,000 policies in two additional Los Angeles ZIP codes, including the neighborhoods of Brentwood, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Monte Nido. It became clear.
Across California, State Farm will discontinue coverage for 72,000 homes in 2024, leaving more than 100,000 state residents without home insurance since 2019. san francisco chronicle analysis revealed.
The Pacific Palisades fire broke out on Tuesday. Become According to NBC News, it is “one of the state's most expensive projects” to date.
Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Chief Christine Crowley said the number of damaged or destroyed buildings in upscale neighborhoods was in the “thousands.” said at a press conference Thursday.
“It is safe to say that the Palisades Fire was one of the most devastating natural disasters in Los Angeles history,” she added.
Attention — Breitbart News reports on the fire:
Actor James Woods is Palisades Home This was one of the thousands that burned down, and X wrote, “One of the major insurance companies canceled all of my neighborhood's insurance about 4 months ago.”
The Palisades Fire, one of five major fires currently raging across Los Angeles, was uncontained as of Thursday morning and had burned an astonishing 17,234 acres.
According to a JPMorgan analysis cited by NBC, the Palisades fire gutted a particularly “wealthy residential area,” with a median home price of more than $3 million.
Analysts estimated insured losses from that fire alone could reach up to $10 billion, but that doesn't include losses from four other major fires in the region.
State Farm officials claimed it was “their No. 1.” “Our top priority at this time is the safety of our customers, agents and employees affected by the fire and supporting our customers during this tragedy,” it said in an email to CBS.
As Breitbart News reported In 2023, many insurance companies stopped selling new insurance in California. That's because “the state's growing wildfire risk and construction costs are rising, and state regulators won't allow new policies to be priced based on expected future risks.”Historical About risk. ”
Private insurance companies are canceling policies across the state, forcing homeowners to rely on California's Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan (FAIR Plan) if they want insurance. are.
newsweek noticed The FAIR Plan is the “insurance company of last resort.”
According to data Approximately 1,400 of the 9,000 Palisades homes were eligible for the FAIR plan in 2024, according to a release from the state insurance company. This is more than four times the number targeted in 2020.
Janet Lewis, spokesperson, Insurance Information Institute said NBC Bay Area stated in September 2024 that it is completely unrealistic for insurance companies to carry as many policies as there is demand in California.
“California is the fourth largest insurance market in the world,” Lewis said. “We want to be here and we want to be a part of it, but we need to get some benefit.”
“Businesses need to be in control of how much they can insure,” she added.
