The Little Hoover Commission, a state watchdog agency tasked with evaluating and providing recommendations to improve state government, is cited that climate change is a key factor contributing to the potential for California to face an “uninsurable future.” Lassen County Supervisors call it a “joke.”
At a recent public hearing, Former California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and other witnesses emphasized the urgency of addressing severe climate-driven events affecting the state’s homeowners insurance market, events such as wildfire’s and other extreme weather events.
The situation has reached a critical point, with more providers withdrawing coverage. Notably, the state’s largest insurer, State Farm, recently announced non-renewals for over 72,000 homes. Witness testimonies highlighted the crisis, detailing instances of insurers exiting the market and imposing strict policy limits, resulting in significant premium hikes.
Lassen Supervisor Chris Gallagher attended, recalling his frustration over hearing “climate change, climate change, climate change over and over again.” Gallagher stated that he had the opportunity to address the commission during the hearing, where he emphasized, to the commission’s intrigue, that homeowners are tapping into their retirement funds to settle their mortgages and avoid the obligation of carrying fire insurance.
Supervisor Jason Ingram, who has been an active voice for the region in promoting affordable homeowners insurance, said, “It is not the American dream to cash in your retirement so you can pay off your house and roll the dice ….” Ingram has been invited to speak before the California Association of Realtors May 1st meeting in Sacramento, addressing what he says are hopes of “putting pressure” on state lawmakers. Ingram a landlord himself says one of his properties just down the road from another is uninsurable because it passes an “imaginary fire line”.
The Little Hoover Commission plans to hold further hearings on the issue to provide recommendations to improve the state’s homeowners insurance market and present a comprehensive report to the Governor and Legislature.
