Opinion: Of Course Home Insurers Are Fleeing California
After decades of packing into areas that are increasingly disaster-prone as the planet heats up, Americans will sooner or later be forced to retreat. Insurance companies are already leading the way. We should heed the message they’re sending, that insuring and inhabiting vulnerable parts of the country will just keep getting more expensive. Allstate last week told the San Francisco Chronicle it had stopped writing new home policies in California after years of taking wildfire losses, citing an inability to raise premiums enough to cover costs. The news came just days after State Farm, California’s largest insurer, announced a similar decision.
– Written by Mark Gongloff, a Bloomberg Opinion editor and columnist covering climate change.