Consumer Watchdog is concerned this could set a dangerous precedent by letting insurers off the hook for their fair plan liabilities and will encourage them to dump even more Californians on the fair plan.
Consumer Watchdog says what's needed are statewide standards so that individual utilities aren't making up policy as they go along we should have a statewide governmental assessed.
State Farm says its surplus has gone down in California, and that's true, but the question is why the company's surplus went down. In fact, the company has profited on the homeowner's line of insurance in California, and at the same time has been sending billions of dollars out of state to its parent company.
State Farm is trying to take advantage of this tragedy to say they need an immediate emergency rate increase of 22%, which could be three quarters of a billion dollars.
It's outrageous for the company now to come to the department asking for an emergency rate hike and it's nothing less than blackmail. State Farm needs to tap its parent company's $134 billion reserve.