State Farm must wait on 22% emergency home insurance rate increase bid after California wildfires

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said State Farm must answer more questions about its finances before the company can be approved for an emergency rate increase in response to the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area.

In a letter Friday , Lara requested a meeting later this month with company officials and representatives from a group challenging the request.

Executives for State Farm General Insurance Company, the firm’s California arm, asked Lara for a 22% price increase on Feb. 3 . They told the commissioner their business “needs your urgent assistance in the form of emergency interim approval of additional rate to help avert a dire situation for our customers and the insurance market in the state.”

State Farm , which has long been California’s largest home insurer, received more than 8,700 claims related to the Los Angeles area fires as of Feb. 1 and had paid out over $1 billion, according to the letter. The company says it covers roughly 250,000 homes in Los Angeles County and more than 1 million in the state.