State Farm is evidently not satisfied with an emergency 17% rate hike for homeowners in California, and intends to ask for 11% more, adding up to a total of nearly 30% — despite failing its obligations to consumers.
As Breitbart News reported earlier this month, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara granted State Farm’s requested rate hike, despite protests from residents affected by the recent California wildfires.
Victims of both the Eaton and Palisades Fires have complained that State Farm engages in “lowballing” estimates of compensation for damages — a practice that, Sen Josh Hawley (R-MO) reported last week, the company has been accused of in other disasters around the country.
While President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Ric Grenell, has persuaded State Farm to make some compromises, such as increasing the amount of property loss it will compensate without an itemized list from 50% of the policy value to 65%, State Farm remains the target of criticism for many policyholders throughout the state of California.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday:
A week after securing approval to raise home insurance rates by an average of 17%, State Farm General revealed plans to ask regulators for an additional 11% increase, as well as considerably higher rates for condo owners and renters.
The 17% increase, set to go into effect in June, was granted last week by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara following a monthslong proceeding that was classified as an “emergency” following the Los Angeles fires.
But State Farm had originally requested a 30% rate hike in June 2024 — and now, with the 17% emergency rate hike approved, it wants to return to its original number. The request, if granted, would go into effect in 2026, amounting to an 11% hike on top of the previous 17%.
For years, California restricted State Farm and other insurers from raising rates to account for future risk, causing many companies to drop policies, stop writing new ones, or simply leave the state.
Ironically, now California appears to be allowing State Farm to raise its rate before it has met its obligations in the recent fires, giving the company immense leverage while overcorrecting for the state’s own past policy failures.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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