Wildfire bill comes due for homeowners

Multiple insurers receive OK to charge policyholders across California to help cover the costs arising out of January firestorms

- By Laurence Darmiento

Residential policyholders across California could be paying several hundred million dollars to help cover the costs of claims arising out of the January firestorms in Los Angeles County.

Multiple insurers, including State Farm General, the largest in California, have received approval from the Department of Insurance to charge their customers for a portion of a $1-billion assessment they were hit with due to the financial problems of the state’s insurer of last resort.

Surcharges that have been approved for some large insurers so far total more than $150 million, with an average of about $50 for a standard homeowner's policy (HO-3), depending on the carrier.

The charge can be more or less according to the size of the premium and is split into monthly payments that can be spread over two years.

The California FAIR Plan Assn., operated and backed by the state’s licensed home insurers, was overwhelmed with an estimated $4 billion in residential and commercial claims stemming largely from the Palisades and Eaton fires that damaged or destroyed nearly 13,000 homes.

Unable to pay those claims, it assessed its member carriers the $1-billion charge in February, half of which they could seek to recoup from their residential and business customers across the state under regulations enacted last year by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara.

The FAIR Plan’s members were assessed by their pro-rata share of the state’s insurance market, with State Farm General experiencing the largest assessment at more than $165 million. The vast majority was due to residential losses and it is seeking to recoup $81.5 million from those policyholders.