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0 pointstimr1y ago0 comments

The article also mentions that one of the proposed fixes is to allow forward pricing of the insurance market, and more flexible rate change regulations.

Right now, California does not allow pricing of insurance policies except on a few non-standard factors. These factors do not include "proximity to wildfire risk areas", which means that insurers lost a lot of money in the big wildfires of 2017-2018. The state refuses to change, so the insurers are pulling out of the market.

Framing this as "because of wildfires" is technically true, but misses the point. The problem is that insurers in CA can't accurately price for wildfire risk.

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csdreamer71y ago

This explains a lot. Most of CA's population does not live in wildfire prone zones. But most of the rural parts do. This will price them out of their homes. Parts of the central valley, the mountains, and really north California.

They also tend to be the more anti-government types. One family in an unincorporated part of the mountains refused to pay the voluntary firefighter service fee. When their home caught on fire the firefights just watched it and put out the parts that threatened a neighbor's house who did pay the fee.

bombcar1y ago

More than just rural areas are at risk now - but it may not be correctly accounted for. Much of Southern California has canyons that can bring fires much closer to urban areas than expected - as far back as 2007.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2007_California_wildfi...

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