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Will your insurance go up? State Farm rate hike hearings kick off
State Farm seeks emergency rate hike citing January's wildfires
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Frederic J. Brown
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AFP via Getty Images
)
A hearing kicked off at the California Insurance Department’s office in Oakland Monday morning as part of the process to determine whether State Farm can institute substantial rate hikes across California.
The requested increases include 22% for homeowners and 15% for condo owners and renters. State Farm asked for an emergency rate hike in February following the deadly L.A. fires, for which the company estimates it will pay out $7.6 billion.
The hearing could continue for multiple days, with State Farm making the case for the increase and Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy group, arguing that the company has not yet provided the information to prove that the rate hike is necessary.
An administrative law judge will then take the arguments into consideration before issuing a ruling within 10 days.
“The bottom line is that State Farm has not ponied up the numbers to prove that it needs the money,” Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, told LAist. “Every Californian who has paid big rate increases over the past several years and now in the wake of the L.A. fires is having trouble getting their claims paid probably has real questions about whether or not this rate hike is justified.”
The rate increase, if approved, will go into effect on June 1 and could affect millions of residents. State Farm alone insures 250,000 homes in L.A. County, according to the company.
Watch the hearing here:
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