SACRAMENTO, California — State Farm on Wednesday became the latest insurer to reduce its exposure to California, days after state officials announced a plan to try to entice insurers to stay in the Golden State despite rising wildfire risk.
State Farm said it would decline to renew 30,000 homeowner policies and 42,000 commercial apartment policies. The move comes after the company’s 2023 decision to stop issuing new personal and commercial coverage in California.
It cited inflation, exposure to catastrophic disasters, the costs of reinsurance and California’s consumer regulations for the pullback.
State Farm’s further retreat is just the latest in a series of decisions by insurers to pull back from California and leave hundreds of thousands of residents with no option but to go to the dangerously bloated insurer of last resort.
