Consumer Watchdog Urges Insurance Discounts for Homeowners, Protections Against Policy Cancellations and Withdrawals in Wildfire Areas
When disaster hits, insurance companies are supposed to have your back… but their number one priority is almost always their own financial well-being.
Wildfires Hasten Another Climate Crisis: Homeowners Who Can’t Get Insurance
Insurers, facing huge losses, have been pulling back from fire-prone areas across California. “The marketplace has largely collapsed,” an advocate for counties in the state said.
By Christopher Flavelle, THE NEW YORK TIMES
September 2, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/climate/wildfires-insurance.html
Column: As Focus Turned To Coronavirus Crisis, Insurers Pushed For A Sneaky Rate Hike On Homeowners
By Michael Hiltzik, LOS ANGELES TIMES
June 19, 2020
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-06-19/insurers-coronavirus-…
It’s fair to say that most Americans see the coronavirus pandemic as an enormous and fearsome burden.
Not the insurance industry. In California, the industry is using the crisis to bring about a sneaky change in insurance rules that could lead to massive increases in homeowner premiums.
Insurance Industry Pushes Legislation to Increase Homeowners Insurance Rates, Derail Public Protections Against Price Gouging, in Guise of Wildfire Response
Los Angeles, CA — While the rest of the state is sheltering at home, lobbyists for the insurance industry are busy promoting legislation, scheduled for a hearing tomorrow, that would allow them to boost insurance rates on homeowners and renters.
Insure Our Future Campaign Calls on Insurance Companies to Cut Ties with Fossil Fuels in the Wake of Climate-Related Rate Hikes and Policy Cancellations
Los Angeles, CA -- As the 2019 wildfire season begins, many homeowners in at-risk areas have once again seen their insurance rates go up, or their insurance policies dropped altogether
Consumer Watchdog Identifies Three Homeowner Insurance Rules Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara Can Issue Immediately
Los Angeles, CA– In a letter sent today, Consumer Watchdog called on Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to use the full authority of his office to preserve Californians’ access to home insurance.
Vote Cancelled on Commissioner Lara’s “Creative” Wildfire Insurance Bill
Sacramento, CA – A wildfire insurance bill sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara stalled in the state Assembly today in the face of objections raised by the Department of Finance and Consumer Watchdog that the bill would expose taxpayers to unnecessary financial risks.
Advocates Call for Withdrawal of Insurance Commissioner Lara’s Bill to Give Insurers & Wall Street Blank Check From CA Taxpayers
Los Angeles, CA -- Consumer Watchdog said legislation sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and scheduled for a vote Wednesday would needlessly expose California taxpayers to the same kind of complex and risky financial instruments that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
The bill would allow the state to purchase insurance and other financial products with none of the usual state oversight, including insurance regulation by Commissioner Lara’s own Department of Insurance and procurement rules at the Department of General Services.
Consumer Watchdog: Victims, Taxpayers and Ratepayers Shouldn’t Be Forced To Pay For Felon’s Negligence Under PG&E Bailout Plan
Los Angeles, CA -- Consumer Watchdog said today that a California wildfire victims’ relief fund could be important, but that the proposal put forth today by Governor Newsom, in legislative hands, threatens to take rights and dollars from wildfire victims, ratepayers and taxpayers without forcing PG&E to make tangible concessions.
Maui Utilities’ Junket While Paradise Burned Should Spark New Rules For Real-time Disclosure of Lawmaker Trips
Los Angeles, CA -- In a letter to California’s legislative leaders, Consumer Watchdog today wrote that the shocking details of a utility junket in Maui with 12 state lawmakers while wildfires destroyed the state should compel new immediate online disclosures about such trips.
As Paradise Burned, 12 Legislators Partied In Maui With Utility Execs & Lobbyists
As wildfire victims fled for their lives in Paradise and Malibu this November, utility executives and lobbyists for California's big utilities were wining and dining 12 influential state legislators in a different paradise -- Wailea, Maui.
The New York Times broke the story about the junket and the discussion about the wildfires there, which had to include the the inevitable bailout for the utilities that helped spark the blaze.
Gov Brown's Culpability For Spreading Wildfires
Governor Brown may not have lit the match that set off the recent wild fires in Sonoma and Napa, but he has responsibility for failing to clear the tinder that spread the flames.
California Public Utility Commission Urged To Investigate PG&E and Other Utilities For Blackouts And To Require A Specific Threat Before Shutdowns
Los Angeles, CA — Consumer Watchdog today urged the President of the California Public Utilities Commission, Michael Picker, to launch a public investigation of Pacific Gas & Electric’s shutoff of power to thousands of customers in Northern California over the weekend due to high wind advisories.
