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California voters on Tuesday are set to decide who will become the next insurance commissioner, as the state continues to navigate an insurance market strained by rising costs and heightened wildfire risks.
Homeowners getting their insurance through the California FAIR Plan will soon be paying even more, but industry observers say it may be a good sign for the state's insurance market.
Former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim and State Sen. Ben Allen, both Democrats, have advanced in the primary election for California's insurance commissioner race, the Associated Press projects.
A year after CBS News California Investigates exposed secrecy inside the California FAIR Plan, the insurance commissioner is backing a bill that would open meetings and financial records and require public reporting for the state's insurer of last resort.
The California Department of Insurance has commissioned a task force to develop a first-in-the-nation smoke damage standard that could be the blueprint for a national standard.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News California Investigates, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced a formal Market Conduct Examination of State Farm.
Once thought of as a small, rarely-used backstop, the FAIR Plan is now one of the largest insurers in the state, and people without FAIR Plan insurance are the ones on the hook for the FAIR Plan's debt. Yet the FAIR Plan is still cloaked in secrecy.
Two lawsuits allege major home insurance companies have colluded to limit coverage in wildfire-prone California communities and force homeowners onto the state's last-resort insurance plan.
At an Oakland hearing Tuesday, attorneys for State Farm Insurance made their case for an emergency rate hike that could impact insurance rates for millions of Californians.
As more people in California lose private insurance, the state's FAIR plan is filling up with homes in places the industry itself has classified as low-risk for wildfire.
