Post New Article

California Takes on the Insurance Industry

Original Article

Posted By: DW626, 1/13/2025 6:28:33 AM

With the California fires, consumer advocates have redoubled their atacks on the "greedy" insurance companies. California congressman John Garamende said from his eight-year experience as insurance commissioner that the insurance companies will "'lowball' and deny claims." Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, adds that home insurers in California are more profitable than the nationwide average (I guess Balber thinks insurance companies in California make too much money). Even Kamala Harris chimed in: "Many insurance companies have canceled insurance for a lot of the families

Post Reply

Reminder: “WE ARE A SALON AND NOT A SALOON”

Your thoughts, comments, and ideas are always welcome here. But we ask you to please be mindful and respectful. Threatening or crude language doesn't persuade anybody and makes the conversation less enjoyable for fellow L.Dotters.


Reply 1 - Posted by: scottj 1/13/2025 7:25:15 AM (No. 1872319)
I think the insurance industries are taking on California.
8 people like this.

Reply 2 - Posted by: Hazymac 1/13/2025 7:46:24 AM (No. 1872330)
If a state makes it illegal for an insurance company to make a profit, there will not be any insurance in that state.
26 people like this.

Reply 3 - Posted by: felixcat 1/13/2025 7:58:00 AM (No. 1872338)
It might have been Fox Business that showed charts comparing insurance costs over past couple of years in CA and FL. Florida showed an average of $5200 per year and in CA - $ 1500 per year.
5 people like this.

Reply 4 - Posted by: HPmatt 1/13/2025 7:59:22 AM (No. 1872339)
Kalifornia is a very, if not the richest state. State of CA can pay $40-60 Billion to rebuild the LA THEY burned down. Trump should match CA $1 for 10 in Aid, and take that $1 out of CA’s other Federal Grants. The up & down the ballot ignorance, graft and stupidity should NOT be subsidized by other US Taxpayers…
12 people like this.

Reply 5 - Posted by: Strike3 1/13/2025 8:33:17 AM (No. 1872354)
Well written and truthful. Every business has a mandate to make money. If you don't like the insurance rates, don't move into flood plains and high fire-risk areas. My solution for California, since the state government has passed laws that there will be no forest cleanup, no firebreaks, and, in the case of Los Angeles, no water, they should subsidize the insurance premiums and losses of residents who lived there and expected their government to provide fire protection. If they can pay an incompetent DEI hire lesbian black female fire chief close to a million dollars annually, they can cover the risk that they imposed. It's only FAIR.
8 people like this.

Reply 6 - Posted by: cartcart 1/13/2025 8:33:46 AM (No. 1872356)
The lower the risk, the lower the pricing of insurance. How can anyone blame State Farm for asking their policyholders to prevent losses by removing the brush fire exposure? Property taxes are sky-high and you would think that part of the grab would be spent on the right things. You all understand that insurance in coastal Florida has a huge wind factor because the hurricanes blow and property is destroyed. Rates go up to create mire capacity in the markets. If they can’t make that happen, companies withdraw from taking the risk. Texas and Florida have (had) wind pools to get more insurance, but these were unprofitable because the exposure was greater than the capacity.
4 people like this.

Reply 7 - Posted by: bpl40 1/13/2025 8:39:22 AM (No. 1872360)
For the 'Rats this is a twofer. On one side they harvest the political benefit of fighting the 'evil insurance business' (price gouging grocers ring a bell?). On the other side as insurance companies wind up unaffordable business whole swaths of properties are left uninsured - read that never to be rebuilt. All you have to do is build tower cities in their place and house them with pliable sheeple who will blindly vote Democrat.. Neat trick isn't it??
5 people like this.

Reply 8 - Posted by: seamusm 1/13/2025 8:42:53 AM (No. 1872364)
The state of California signed agreements with insurers and the Feds promising to spend millions to address fire risks - and did not do what they promised. The news repeatedly repeats that insurers cancelled policies due to that risk but neglects to report that they did so FOUR months ago - NOT the week before these fires. Residents had ample time to get their insurance affairs in order. At the end of the day these losses will be shared by all of us not just by Californians. OUR homeowner rates will also go up to cover the losses. WE will also pay for Cali voters who were profoundly stupid and most likely will remain so.
8 people like this.

Reply 9 - Posted by: NorthernDog 1/13/2025 9:30:22 AM (No. 1872396)
New insurers will probably demand that all shrubbery and flammable trees be removed near the home. That will be a bitter pill to swallow.
7 people like this.

Reply 10 - Posted by: paral04 1/13/2025 10:37:21 AM (No. 1872456)
Well, after this Newsome and Bass barbeque that is going on, anyone who can afford Home Owners Insurance will be lucky.
1 person likes this.

Reply 11 - Posted by: Vaquero45 1/13/2025 10:47:35 AM (No. 1872476)
State Farm is ALWAYS the whipping boy in these situations - followed closely by Farmers. Here's why State Farm pulled out of the fire insurance market last summer. When they stopped writing new business then, they non-renewed 30,000 homeowners policies in Los Angeles; 21,000 of them were in Pacific Palisades. They knew that place was gonna burn sooner or later. The median price of a home in Pacific Palisades before the fire was $3.5 million. Let's assume, safely, that all of those houses were total losses last week. Do the math. State Farm dodged a $73 billion catastrophe loss... California's FAIR Plan has a $500 million exposure in this fire. They have $70 million in reserves to pay claims. They're broke. Thanks to the California government and its insurance commissioner, pretty soon there will be no insurance companies doing business in California.
3 people like this.

Reply 12 - Posted by: JHHolliday 1/13/2025 11:06:23 AM (No. 1872500)
I am a retired Insurance agent. I see politicians and others talking about insurance companies "canceling) policies. This is blatant misinformation. The companies can't simply "cancel: a policy mid term except for fraud or non payment of premiums. Georgia requires 30 days notice that the poicy will be non-renewed. I don't know what the notice time is in CA but it's a least that much or longer. There is also talk from politicians about not letting insurance companies leave the state. This is fatuous posturing like telling Walgreens that they can't leave simply because they are going broke from robbery and shoplifting. This sort of talk and the hostile blathering about "greedy" insurance companies combined with the massive losses are going to drive the remaining companies out of the state and leave their state FAIR plan as the only available way to get coverage. Sadly, we will all pay through increased rates and taxes for a feckless criminally run state.
2 people like this.

Reply 13 - Posted by: JHHolliday 1/13/2025 11:08:33 AM (No. 1872501)
I am a retired Insurance agent. I see politicians and others talking about insurance companies "canceling) policies. This is blatant misinformation. The companies can't simply "cancel: a policy mid term except for fraud or non payment of premiums. Georgia requires 30 days notice that the poicy will be non-renewed. I don't know what the notice time is in CA but it's a least that much or longer. There is also talk from politicians about not letting insurance companies leave the state. This is fatuous posturing like telling Walgreens that they can't leave simply because they are going broke from robbery and shoplifting. This sort of talk and the hostile blathering about "greedy" insurance companies combined with the massive losses are going to drive the remaining companies out of the state and leave their state FAIR plan as the only available way to get coverage. Sadly, we will all pay through increased rates and taxes for a feckless criminally run state.
1 person likes this.

Reply 14 - Posted by: jeffkinnh 1/13/2025 5:06:42 PM (No. 1872740)
If you pressure insurance companies to maximize payments to claimants, they will simply raise rates to compensate. They MUST take in enough money to be able to pay claims and make a profit. They ARE a business, DUH. So with higher rates, people will either not be able to afford insurance at all or get an economy policy that doesn't pay out as much. Dems and too many Republicans think they can dictate economics, that's why Medicare is in trouble with doctors not accepting Medicare patients. They don't make enough money on them. Some people are not going into medicine because you can't make a decent living after all the required education and training that is required. So, less doctors. All because politicians set absurd payment rates to keep government costs down and pander to voters. Cost control is all well and good but so is realism about services and costs.
0 people like this.

Reply 15 - Posted by: mifla 1/14/2025 6:51:02 AM (No. 1873087)
Newsom will declare that CA will make all homeowners whole and then send the bill to Biden.
0 people like this.

Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "DW626"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Most Recent Articles posted by DW626"
WaPo publishes an attempt to rewrite history
to boost Biden’s pathetic legacy
7 replies
Posted by DW626 1/14/2025 5:49:46 AM Post Reply
Where is Glenn Kessler, the person posing as a fact checker for The Washington Post, when you need him? Before publishing a claim that Joe Biden has left a “remarkable legacy” on the public health sector, shouldn’t we at least analyze his results? Here’s this, from an article at the paper last Thursday: Biden leaves behind a remarkable legacy in public health History will remember Biden for his aggressive actions against covid-19, most notably for his part in a mass vaccination campaign that saved an estimated 3.2 million Americans in two years. But his work on health matters went far beyond the coronavirus pandemic.
We Need Immediate Action to Reverse Joe
Biden’s Executive Orders
11 replies
Posted by DW626 1/14/2025 5:24:48 AM Post Reply
On Joe Biden’s first day in office in January 2021, he signed seventeen executive orders. These orders are notorious and remained controversial throughout his term in office. They included such measures as stopping the Keystone Pipeline — an order that was blamed for rising gasoline prices throughout Biden’s term (the real cause of such price increases was the Biden administration’s massive spending sprees, but the pipeline shutdown made the situation worse). Other Biden orders on that first day included renewed environmentalist-extremist measures such as rejoining the “Paris Accords” (wildfires continue unabated despite this order).
Brutal Article Rips Apart Karen Bass,
Saying She Put on a Clinic on What Not
to Do During LA Fires
3 replies
Posted by DW626 1/14/2025 5:21:20 AM Post Reply
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ political career is likely over after these fires in the county are contained and extinguished. She has zero chance of being re-elected if she’s not recalled first. Peter Hamby of Puck News, a Los Angeles resident, penned a damning story that took shots at everyone, from the social media folks who he claims are spreading misinformation to Elon Musk for trying to bait firefighters into saying there was no water available. Hamby contends there was enough water, though the blaze's size made combating it ineffective. We’ll leave you to debate that in the comments section below.
The Newsom/Bass Wildfires and the Allocation
of Blame
8 replies
Posted by DW626 1/13/2025 6:43:47 AM Post Reply
In January 2025, wildfires devastated Los Angeles County. While not every detail is yet known – and some details will likely never be known – these fires have destroyed entire communities, burned thousands of houses, schools, churches and businesses, killed and injured people and pets. The losses in physical structure can be counted; the losses in dollar value can only be guessed at. Property insurance figures estimate the value of a building, but the residents can never accurately estimate – and insure for – all the contents within.
California Takes on the Insurance Industry 15 replies
Posted by DW626 1/13/2025 6:28:33 AM Post Reply
With the California fires, consumer advocates have redoubled their atacks on the "greedy" insurance companies. California congressman John Garamende said from his eight-year experience as insurance commissioner that the insurance companies will "'lowball' and deny claims." Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, adds that home insurers in California are more profitable than the nationwide average (I guess Balber thinks insurance companies in California make too much money). Even Kamala Harris chimed in: "Many insurance companies have canceled insurance for a lot of the families
There Was a Ton of Drama at Jimmy Carter's Funeral 18 replies
Posted by DW626 1/9/2025 1:24:49 PM Post Reply
Former President Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29, 2024, at age 100, was laid to rest today. Yet, the state funeral at Washington National Cathedral would be one chock full of awkward moments. All former presidents would be in attendance. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were there. In short, it was a high-drama event where most of the VIPs hated each other. Barack Obama didn’t even shake Donald Trump’s hand
Gavin Newsom Whining About Trump As Homes
Burn Behind Him Perfectly Captures Dem Incompetence
11 replies
Posted by DW626 1/9/2025 1:21:57 PM Post Reply
Did California Gov. Gavin Newsom understand that the optics when making this statement were atrocious? The state's political leadership is at fault for the fiasco in Los Angeles County, where wildfires are raging. Over 30,000 acres have been torched, 1,000 buildings destroyed, at least five lives lost, and none of these blazes are contained. A fire erupted on Hollywood Hills last night, placing the heart of Los Angeles in harm’s way.
Is Rachel Maddow Just Plain Stupid? 30 replies
Posted by DW626 1/9/2025 7:38:52 AM Post Reply
The Left’s high priestess of political drama has spoken again. Her recent diatribe regarding all things January 6 is a master class in projection, denial, lack of self-awareness, and gaslighting. Let’s go to the tape: So, today, January 6, the certification of the last presidential election happened in Washington, and it just happened ministerially and ceremonially, like it's supposed to. And that contrast with what happened today versus what happened four years ago makes clear the profound difference
The man who spotted Castro 1 reply
Posted by DW626 1/9/2025 6:36:38 AM Post Reply
We remember President Richard M. Nixon, who was born on this day in 1913 in California and died in 1994. Our family was on the way to a baseball game when we heard the news of his death on the radio. You may remember that President Nixon suffered a stroke earlier in the week, and Mrs. Nixon died the year before. He was never the same after she died, or so I hear from those around him. Cuba, the Castro brothers, and Nixon will always be a part of my childhood, from leaving Cuba to growing up in the U.S. In 1959, then VP Nixon
The Demise of the Mainstream Media 9 replies
Posted by DW626 1/8/2025 5:51:26 AM Post Reply
Thanks to Donald Trump’s revolutionary campaign strategy of near-exclusive focus on internet media, Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, and self-immolation, the dominant ninety-year run of the self-styled “mainstream media” ended with the 2024 presidential election, alongside its legacy of being the cheerleaders and propaganda arm of the American Left and an increasingly radicalized Democrat Party. The mainstream media can trace its beginning to Franklin Roosevelt. It was given birth with the passage of the Communications Act of 1934 and the creation of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
‘Thank You, Dr. Fauci’ 5 replies
Posted by DW626 1/8/2025 5:48:22 AM Post Reply
“A high-stakes docu-thriller” is a P.R. caption for the ironically named Jenner Furst documentary, Thank You, Dr. Fauci. No Thanks, Dr. Fauci or Goodbye, Doc would be a more straightforward title. After all, if a large number of the right people were to view the film, it would change Anthony Fauci’s public reputation from the courageous voice of science to a mendacious bureaucrat whose reckless obsession with genetically altered vaccines paved the way for a devastating pandemic. But as Furst implies, the likelihood of that reversal of fortune is slim, since the same tech, pharma, and political powers that successfully squashed the truth
How to invalidate the Presidential Medal
of Freedom in one fell swoop
13 replies
Posted by DW626 1/6/2025 5:55:31 AM Post Reply
The Biden administration, whoever is running it, is illegitimate. The 2020 election was stolen, rigged to defeat Trump by any means necessary. Many means were employed, all illegal, all unconstitutional. The truth is coming out, bit by bit. We should know by now that the left could not care less about the Constitution; they hate the limits it imposes on government, so they ignore the Bill of Rights and most of the Articles. These past post-Constitutional four years have been a disaster by any measure, from the open border to the third world and China to the imposition of woke on our military.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Michelle Obama will not attend Donald
Trump’s inauguration after skipping
Jimmy Carter’s funeral
50 replies
Posted by Imright 1/14/2025 12:40:36 PM Post Reply
Former first lady Michelle Obama is set to snub President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next Monday after skipping former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral last week — where she would have sat next to the one and future commander-in-chief. “Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,” the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama said in a statement to the Associated Press. The former first lady’s team did not provide a reason for skipping the inauguration, but Michelle Obama, 60, has been an impassioned critic of Trump, 78, over the past eight years.
Special counsel report found Trump engaged
in ‘criminal effort’ to overturn 2020 election
28 replies
Posted by Dreadnought 1/14/2025 3:16:24 AM Post Reply
WASHINGTON - U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith concluded that Donald Trump engaged in an "unprecedented criminal effort" to hold on to power after losing the 2020 election, but was thwarted in bringing the case to trial by the president-elect's November election victory, according to a report published on Tuesday. The report details Smith's decision to bring a four-count indictment against Trump, accusing him of plotting to obstruct the collection and certification of votes following his 2020 defeat by Democratic President Joe Biden. It concludes that the evidence would have been enough to convict Trump at trial, but his imminent return to the presidency, set for Jan. 20, made that impossible.
Biden to lift Cuba terrorism designation
just days before he leaves office, outraging
Republicans: ‘Pathetic coward’
19 replies
Posted by Dreadnought 1/14/2025 3:41:35 PM Post Reply
WASHINGTON — Retiring President Biden lifted Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism Tuesday, less than a week before leaving office — outraging Republican members of Congress who believe more stringent sanctions should remain in effect. Biden, 82, made the decision in deference to the Catholic Church’s talks with the island’s Communist authorities on releasing political prisoners, the White House said. “We view this as an opportune moment to do so, given the important dialogue that is taking place between Cuba and the Catholic Church with respect to political prisoners,” a Biden administration official told reporters.
Hamas expected to release 33 hostages
in first phase of emerging ceasefire deal,
Israeli officials say
19 replies
Posted by FormerDem 1/14/2025 8:26:05 AM Post Reply
Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages during the first phase of an emerging ceasefire agreement being finalized by negotiators in Doha, two Israeli officials said, the first positive sign in months that a truce in the Israel-Hamas war may be in sight. Officials have expressed cautious optimism that a deal could soon be announced to halt 15 months of fighting that has destabilized the Middle East and devastated Gaza, allow for more aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave, and ensure the return of dozens of hostages held by Hamas since its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Reed to Hegseth: You are unqualified,
lack character
18 replies
Posted by mc squared 1/14/2025 11:37:41 AM Post Reply
Sen. Jack Reed (R.I), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick to head the Department of Defense, that he is plainly unqualified and lacks the necessary character to lead the nation’s armed forces. I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job. We must acknowledge the concerning public reports against you,” Reed said in a stinging opening statement at Hegseth confirmation hearing, which began at 9:30 a.m. EST Tuesday morning. Reed said committee members must pay close attention to allegations of sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement against Hegseth in recent years.
Nearly 1,000 sign petition calling on
Brooklyn cinema to ban ‘Zionist propaganda’
film about 1972 Munich massacre
18 replies
Posted by OhioNick 1/14/2025 3:21:25 AM Post Reply
Nearly 1,000 people have signed an online petition calling on a cinema in Brooklyn to stop screening a film about the Munich massacre during the 1972 Summer Olympics. September 5, directed by Tim Fehlbaum, follows the terrorist attack carried out by the Palestinian militant organisation Black September. [SNIP] A petition organised by a group of New York cinema workers is calling on the cinema to stop platforming the film and has amassed more than 1,000 signatures. The workers describe the film as “Zionist propaganda”, which misrepresents the militants who carried out the massacre as “antisemitic terrorists”.
Watch: Pete Hegseth Humiliates Sen. Warren
With Epic Mic Drop Moment
17 replies
Posted by Dreadnought 1/14/2025 2:06:57 PM Post Reply
In a heated exchange on Capitol Hill during his confirmation hearings, Pete Hegseth served up an epic mic-drop moment that left Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) visibly shaken. The back-and-forth centered on a pointed question Warren posed to Hegseth, suggesting that he make a public pledge to stay out of the defense industry for 10 years after leaving his job should he be confirmed. Hegseth wasn’t about to let her corner him, and his response exposed the glaring flaws in Warren’s line of questioning. The tension kicked off when Warren bluntly asked, “Mr. Hegseth, you have written that after they retire, generals should
Kamala Harris Delivers Word Salad to California
Wildfire Victims (Video)
17 replies
Posted by Imright 1/14/2025 7:09:17 AM Post Reply
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris convened Senior White House and Administration officials for a briefing on the federal government’s response to the Los Angeles wildfires. The Los Angeles fires have killed at least 24 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures, and the reported estimated damage is around $150 billion. The damage is largely due to Democrats like Governor Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass after they slashed fire department funding and didn’t fill reservoirs. On Monday Biden announced his Regime is giving $770 to people impacted by the California wildfires.
Here It Is - DOJ Releases 134-Page Jack
Smith Lawfare Report Detailing Trump Targeting Operation
17 replies
Posted by FlyRight 1/14/2025 6:34:24 AM Post Reply
Shortly after midnight the DOJ released a 134-page volume 1 report [SEE HERE] outlining a political narrative used by the Biden Dept of Justice in their targeting effort of President-elect Donald Trump. We are reading it along with you in real time and will have more analysis following complete review. In the interim, everyone knows the timing and release of this report is being done as part of a sequential series of steps intended to undermine the administration of incoming President Donald Trump.
California Gov. Newsom Makes $50 Million
Deal with Dem Lawmakers to Fight Trump, Deportations
16 replies
Posted by sunset 1/14/2025 1:08:03 AM Post Reply
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has made a deal with fellow far-left Democrats in the state legislature to set aside $50 million in taxpayer funds to fight the Trump administration and to shield illegal migrants from deportations — as the Los Angeles fires death toll reaches 24. Newsom convened a special session immediately after President-elect Donald Trump handily beat Vice President Kamala Harris in the November election, saying another Trump presidency would require the legislature to “provide additional funding to the California Department of Justice (CADOJ) and other agencies” to prepare for legal battles.
Well, This Story Only Shows How Much of
a Sore Loser Kamala Harris Is...
15 replies
Posted by Imright 1/14/2025 6:53:20 AM Post Reply
Vice President Kamala Harris is a bitter sore loser. When JD Vance moves into the official residence at Naval One Observatory, it will be something of a surprise for him. Why? Well, that’s because Harris never invited him to tour the residence. There is no sit-down either. The Vance family will be exploring the property for the first time on January 20. It gets worse: Vance's wife, Usha, contacted the vice president’s office in November, asking if any parts of the house need child-proofing—all the Vance children are under 8. Harris' office initially rebuffed those overtures (via CBS News):
The Dumbest Senator Had the Most Predictable
Line of Attack on Pete Hegseth
14 replies
Posted by Imright 1/14/2025 12:51:33 PM Post Reply
Let’s clarify: When I say Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) did her job, I mean she read the attack script given to her for Pete Hegseth poorly and remains the dumbest person on the Hill. Hegseth has his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Hearing concerning his nomination as the next secretary of defense. Sure, Code Pink clowns interrupted the opening remarks. They got dealt with. Yes, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) got a little uppity about what will happen to the women and the gays at the Pentagon. But it’s been mostly a smooth ride for Hegseth, even if he had to endure
Post New Article