An insurance crisis was already brewing in LA. Then the fires hit

With a smoky sunset as a backdrop, homes destroyed by the Palisades Fire are seen in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles. (Image: Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

The Washington Post

Mon, 13 Jan 2025

By Sarah Kaplan, Anna PhillipsIn July last year, as California sweltered through its hottest month in history, the state’s biggest insurance company stopped providing home insurance to more than 1,000 homeowners in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles.Tucked into the fire-prone hillsides on the city’s Westside, the neighbourhood was one of a growing number in California deemed too risky to insure, State Farm President Denise Hardin wrote in a letter to regulators. The carrier did not renew nearly 70% of policies in the...

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