State Farm, Allstate no longer accepting new homeowner policies in California

BOULDER CREEK, CA. (KION-TV): Two of the largest insurance agencies in the country will no longer accept applications in California.

Burkey Bley, who lives in Boulder Creek is upset State Farm and Allstate will no longer accept applications for home and business insurance.

“The consumer, and the public, and the hardworking Americans in this area are really getting screwed," said Bley.

He said his home was damaged in Boulder Creek during the 2020 CZU fire.

“It’s a disgraceful thing and the state of California should be more in tune with this… I know they’ve been trying, but unfortunately, we're put in a small little narrow areas in the insurance industry and people are paying high,” said Bley.

On State Farm's website, they said in part... “State Farm General Insurance Company made this decision due to historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure, and a challenging reinsurance market.”

End of quote. Allstate said, “The cost to insure new home customers in California is far higher than the price they would pay for policies due to wildfires, higher costs for repairing homes, and higher reinsurance premiums”

Some of those catastrophic events were wildfires and this year's storms.

People like Pat Foster who also lives in Boulder Creek, said the state needs to step in.

"I think our insurance commissioner should be taking a look at what's going on with our insurance companies across the state because California… getting insurance in California is very expensive,” said Foster.

If you already have a State Farm insurance policy on your home the company said it will continue to honor it.