(KTLA) – State Farm, California’s largest insurer, announced on Wednesday that it will offer renewals to residential policyholders affected by the deadly wildfires across Los Angeles County. The company previously had plans to drop many of these policies.
State Farm’s decision applies to policies held by homeowners, owners of rental dwellings, and residential community associations, including condominium associations.
California Department of Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara welcomed the news.
“I applaud State Farm for answering my call and setting the tone for all insurance companies to follow. All eyes are on insurance companies right now, including mine. I’ve asked State Farm and all insurance companies to answer my call to honor the policies they non-renewed in the areas I’ve protected by my moratorium powers, under my notice last week,” Lara said in a statement.
“Insurers need to do the right thing and stand by their customers. We will keep working to ensure everyone’s claims are paid fairly, quickly, and completely.”
Due to the deadly wildfires, Lara announced a one-year moratorium last week that bars insurers from issuing new cancellation or non-renewal notices. The moratorium applies whether or not homeowners have suffered a loss, and Lara announced plans to expand its scope.
Still, the insurance commissioner does not have the authority to suspend non-renewals previously sent to policyholders.
Last March, State Farm announced plans to drop about 30,000 property insurance and 42,000 commercial apartment policies in California. That followed the company’s 2023 decision to stop accepting new insurance applications for all business and personal property in the state.
So far, other insurance companies haven’t announced plans to offer renewals to policyholders impacted by the wildfires.