Los Angeles wildfires rage as California homeowners battle an 'insurance crisis'
The wind-driven wildfires burning out of control in the Los Angeles area couldn't have emerged at a more perilous moment for California's homeowners, as officials try to rehab what they concede is a deepening "insurance crisis."
The wind-driven wildfires burning out of control in the Los Angeles area couldn't have emerged at a more perilous moment for California's homeowners, as officials try to rehab what they concede is a deepening "insurance crisis."
"We were all thinking 2025 is going to be the year insurers regain their appetite for the market in California, but having this catastrophe hit us right out of the gate is really unfortunate," said Amy Bach, the executive director of United Policyholders, a California-based nonprofit consumer group.
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"Up until this latest disaster," she said, "we thought we might be turning a corner."
The state Department of Insurance issued a new regulation last month meant to turn the tide of some of the largest insurance companies' refusal to take on new customers in California or decisions not to renew policies of current ones. Under the rule, insurance companies are permitted to pass on the cost of reinsurance to consumers, although at an amount that can't exceed an industry standard.
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