this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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State Farm will discontinue coverage for 72,000 houses and apartments in California starting this summer, the insurance giant said this week, nine months after announcing it would not issue new home policies in the state 

The Illinois-based company, California’s largest insurer, cited soaring costs, the increasing risk of catastrophes like wildfires and outdated regulations as reasons it won’t renew the policies on 30,000 houses and 42,000 apartments, the Bay Area News Group reported Thursday.

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[–] subspaceinterferents@lemmy.world 55 points 7 months ago (2 children)

And like a bad neighbor, State Farm won't care.

[–] derf82@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

No insurance companies care. They are all in business to make money. I can’t blame them for not wanting to insure a disaster-prone area.

[–] Yamainwitch@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

Hahaha I heard the jingle as I read it! Perfection!

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 50 points 7 months ago (1 children)

All insurance types should be nationalized.

[–] Pika@sh.itjust.works 15 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I agree, however I also agree that you should not expect to be able to build in an area that is prone to disaster. Like if I build my house on a Sandy Beach and the foundation fails because it's on Sand I'm not going to expect that the insurance company is going to cover it. The same should be considered for areas that are prone to natural disasters like California or Florida with Hurricanes

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I agree but I also think people who've lived there prior to this designation should be grandfathered in or compensated for uprooting and moving.

There are millions of people in the country who through little fault of their own could be totally screwed by this.

[–] Pika@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago (3 children)

I believe that if an insurance company /chooses/ to take on a insurance contract with a homeowner, they should be able to go through with it. So i fully agree with the grandfathered in thing, but like I also feel that a company shouldn't be forced to keep a customer outside that contract expiring. If they are canceling the contract mid cycle I am 100% expecting compensation, but if its just a policy renewal? there's other companies or if not that was a risk being built in a higher risk zone

[–] gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 7 months ago

If they are canceling the contract mid cycle I am 100% expecting compensation, but if its just a policy renewal? there's other companies or if not that was a risk being built in a higher risk zone

These houses weren't built when these zones were high risk and more companies are moving out, leaving people with nothing.

Frankly, I feel no pity in forcing companies that have bent people over and fucked them to insure these places. Maybe that'll teach them a lesson in not helping fight climate change as risk management

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[–] Dramaking37@lemmy.world 37 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The oil industry will keep making money and we're going to pick up the check in the form of insurance, taxes, and misery.

[–] phoneymouse@lemmy.world 21 points 7 months ago

It’s true, these are externalized costs.

Socialize the costs, privatize the profits

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 33 points 7 months ago (4 children)

What climate catastrophe-free area of the country does State Farm think it will make sense to still insure homes in?

Also, I thought they were like a good neighbor.

[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 22 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there” means that they resemble a good neighbor only insofar as both share the attribute of existence.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 18 points 7 months ago

At least Geico is relatively honest. "Yes, we are a bunch of reptiles."

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 10 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Non-coastal new England is pretty safe. No earthquakes, few hurricane effects, almost no tornadoes, tends to stay damp enough and has enough old deciduous growth, where forest fires aren't a big issue.

I am sure there are other places that are low risk as well.

[–] Kalysta@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

And if the entire population of the country moves there due to insurance pulling out of everywhere else, non coastal new england will turn into San Francisco.

This isn’t the answer you think it is.

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago

I was just answering the simple question, not providing a solution to a problem.

[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Where does the CEO live again?

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Chicago area, apparently. Not exactly free from climate catastrophes.

[–] Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 months ago

No place is 100% safe. Around the great lakes is probably one of the best places to be going forward though.

[–] festus@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago

Part of the problem is that many of the states where insurance companies are leaving have rules that limit what they can charge. That sounds good in principle, but with climate change causing these disasters to happen more often the insurance companies are bleeding money. Ultimately insurance as an industry can't work if you keep having losses, and if you can't increase prices to cope then you have no choice but to withdraw.

I've sure State Farm is happy to cover catastrophe-prone areas, but only if they won't lose money on average.

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 20 points 7 months ago (34 children)

Being forced to have home insurance is ridiculous. Private companies jack up prices, make all the rules, and come and go as they please. We need to figure out a better system!

[–] derf82@lemmy.world 23 points 7 months ago (4 children)

The only one forcing people to have homeowners insurance is mortgage companies, that want to ensure the collateral on that mortgage doesn’t disappear.

That and common sense, as even if you don’t have a mortgage, you also don’t want a disaster to make your largest asset go poof.

There is competition. That is meant to keep prices lower. But insuring people in disaster prone areas just isn’t a wise business decision.

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[–] caffinatedone@lemmy.world 17 points 7 months ago

Not (re)building in areas prone to wildfires, mudslides, floods, and the like would be a good start. Otherwise, someone has to pay to rebuild when the ever more frequent disaster hits. State farm and other insurers suck in many ways, but this isn't unreasonable on their part.

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[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago

This further pushes up the costs of homeownership.

[–] FaceDeer@fedia.io 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

There are some places you really should just not be building houses.

[–] Hello_there@fedia.io 48 points 7 months ago (3 children)

It's not about that. That's the insurance industry's cover story.
The real story is insurance companies giving a hissy fit about being subject to regulation by the state's insurance commissioner.
If the insurance industry was only dropping coverage in the middle of forests, or on beachfront or riverfront property, that would make sense. But it's not. They're dropping coverage on infill development in the middle of cities.

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[–] Kalysta@lemm.ee 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

So much of this could be fixed by forcing electric companies to update their infrastructure and force them to bury power lines.

Or they should force the power company to pay the full cost of every home damaged by their outdated power lines triggering fires.

[–] SparrowRanjitScaur@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

It's not that simple. Yes, power lines do start a lot of fires, but climate change induced drought is the main cause of the scale and frequency of wildfires in California. If the conditions are right it's only a matter of time until something sets it off.

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