A “deregulation deal with insurers” was applied to the reforms.
According to a Consumer Watchdog-commissioned survey, the majority of Californians are opposed to changes that would give insurance companies more rate flexibility in exchange for covering homes in areas with a high risk of wildfires.
Voters are overwhelmingly against the plan, according to the survey’s results: 62% of respondents are against it, while 30% are in favor.
Furthermore, statistics showed that just 9% of voters strongly supported the insurance commissioner’s proposals.
Ricardo Lara, the insurance commissioner for California, is pursuing a reform package that includes a regulation requiring insurers to resume operations in wildfire-prone areas up to a predetermined level, which is equal to 85% of their market share throughout the state. In return, these insurance companies might factor in reinsurance costs and use catastrophe risk models to set their prices.
An organization known as Consumer Watchdog has characterized this proposal as a “deregulation deal with insurers” that would repeal the consumer safeguards established by Proposition 103.
Insurers must get prior approval before they can change their prices, according to Proposition 103, written by Consumer Watchdog founder Harvey Rosenfield.
As a whole, voters prefer “more regulation, not less.”
Even though most were against Lara’s proposed changes, Californians did recognize the importance of a plan to deal with insurance and wildfire concerns.
The commissioned survey found that the majority of voters support a law that would force insurance companies to cover homeowners who take the precaution of fireproofing their homes, much like the one that Senator Mike McGuire has proposed before.
According to Consumer Watchdog, 77% of respondents were in favor of this option, while only 15% were against it.
In addition, while 30% of voters are opposed to the idea of insurers refusing to offer homeowners and renters insurance to customers, 55% of people support the idea of denying insurers the right to sell car insurance in California.
Poll results demonstrate that California people do not support Commissioner Lara’s plan, according to Consumer Watchdog president Jamie Court, who made the announcement in a news release. More regulation, not less, is what voters think will fix the house insurance problem.
For this survey, Consumer Watchdog turned to FM3 Research. Between October 26 and 30, the business surveyed 600 people who were likely to vote in the November 2024 election.
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