FOX Business Cheryl Casone joined Fox & Friends First to discuss the insurance crisis in California as wildfires devastate Los Angeles and the broader concerns about the industry moving forward.
The wildfires ravaging Southern California are expected to add further fuel to the state’s ongoing insurance crisis, as residents’ options for property coverage continue to dwindle or even disappear.
Several insurance companies have either fled California, stopped writing new policies or otherwise reduced their exposure in The Golden State, citing business risks amid rising replacement costs and the inability to adequately raise premiums.
Homes burn as powerful winds drive the Eaton Fire on January 7, 2025 in Pasadena, California. (David McNew/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Here is a list of some of the insurance companies that either scaled back or left California in recent years:
Allstate
Insurance giant AllState paused its sales of new home insurance policies in California in 2022 due to wildfires and higher costs of doing business in the state.
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American National
Texas-based American National announced last year it would stop offering homeowners insurance in the California market.
AmGUARD
AmGUARD, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway-owned GUARD Insurance Companies, stopped writing homeowners policies in California in 2023.
Chubb
Insurance company Chubb began reducing its exposure in California over three years ago. (Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Chubb Chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg announced in a 2021 earnings call that the company would significantly reduce homeowners coverage in California, pointing to wildfire risks and the state’s insurance regulations, according to S&P.
Falls Lake Insurance
Falls Lake informed California’s Department of Insurance in 2023 it would be pulling out of the state completely because the company could not obtain reinsurance, PropertyCasualty360 reported that year.
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Farmer’s Insurance Group
Farmers Insurance Group began limiting coverage in California in 2023, and later that year, one of its subsidiaries, Farmers Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Company, withdrew from the state entirely.
Nationwide
Nationwide Private Client, a subsidiary of Nationwide, informed California last year that it would stop renewing all its homeowners insurance policies in the state by June of 2025, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
State Farm
A sign is posted in front of a State Farm insurance office on January 03, 2024 in Berkeley, California. State Farm announced last year it would discontinue 72,000 insurance policies in the Golden State. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
State Farm, California’s largest home insurance provider, announced in 2023 that it would no longer accept applications for property insurance and other policies in California, citing “historic” increases in construction costs and inflation.”
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Then in March of last year, the company said that it would cut 72,000 home and apartment policies starting in the summer.
The Hartford
The Hartford Financial Services Group stopped writing new homeowners insurance policies in California in early 2024.
Malibu resident Saphia Hall gives a firsthand account of the catastrophic California wildfires on ‘Making Money.’
Tokio Marine Insurance Co., Trans Pacific Insurance Co.
Tokio Marine America Insurance Co. and Trans Pacific Insurance Co., both owned by Japanese firm Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., filed notices to California’s Department of Insurance in April 2024 saying the companies would cease offering homeowners insurance and umbrella policies in the state.
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Travelers
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Travelers Insurance announced it would not renew homeowners policies for thousands of California properties from 2022 and 2023 due to wildfire risk.
