The Democrat Insurance Commissioner wants to punish the homeowners and property owners of California. He has demanded that insurance companies not be allowed to drop coverage. By doing so, he is pushing the cost of fire insurance for all Californians. Worse, he is forcing companies, when the moratorium has ended, to leave the State. Now we have the agency that provides fire insurance as a last resort also complaining—and filing a lawsuit.
“California’s insurance industry pays into a fund called the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, which provides wildfire coverage to those who have lost it or can’t afford it. Californians must purchase other types of coverage — such as protection against floods or theft — through the private market.
But last month, state insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara ordered FAIR to offer comprehensive insurance, hoping to save policyholders the burden of purchasing multiple plans.
According to FAIR’s lawsuit, filed Friday in the Central District of Los Angeles Superior Court, that directive is a no-go.
FAIR says that the mandate is illegal because it interferes with FAIR’s plan to encourage “maximum use” of the private insurance market.”
Just as ObamaCare has harmed health care for years to come, this Democrat decision will add to the cost of property ownership for decades to come. Why do Democrats hate families and jobs?
Lawsuit Challenges California’s Fire Insurance Mandate
LACEY LOUWAGIE, Courthousenews, 12/14/19
(CN) – An insurance collective is suing California’s insurance commissioner, claiming its new mandate to make coverage more accessible to those in wildfire-prone areas will force cost increases.
California’s insurance industry pays into a fund called the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, which provides wildfire coverage to those who have lost it or can’t afford it. Californians must purchase other types of coverage — such as protection against floods or theft — through the private market.
But last month, state insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara ordered FAIR to offer comprehensive insurance, hoping to save policyholders the burden of purchasing multiple plans.
According to FAIR’s lawsuit, filed Friday in the Central District of Los Angeles Superior Court, that directive is a no-go.
FAIR says that the mandate is illegal because it interferes with FAIR’s plan to encourage “maximum use” of the private insurance market.
But Lara told AP News the lawsuit was “industry driven” and vowed to “protect consumers.”
“Insurers can’t have it both ways,” Lara said. “They cannot continue to cancel policyholders at an alarming rate, leaving them with the FAIR Plan as their only option, with woefully inadequate coverage.”
The Associated Press reports that private insurers dropped coverage for 350,000 policyholders in wildfire-prone areas since 2015.
Several years of devastating wildfires have undercut profitability for California’s insurers. According to the California Department of Insurance, the state’s insurance companies paid out $1.70 for every $1 collected in premiums last year.
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