We Hear From California’s Insurance Commissioner Candidates

SPEAKER_2 (0:03)

A dark night, a quiet house, but inside danger was lurking.

Danielle Venton (0:08)

Oh, not really.

Jane Kim (0:09)

We have Xfinity Shield, so we're not worried.

SPEAKER_4 (0:12)

What if protecting your home and devices could be drama-free?

Jane Kim (0:15)

Xfinity, imagine that. Restrictions apply, not available in all areas.

SPEAKER_5 (0:18)

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Mina Kim (0:57)

Welcome to Forum, I'm Mina Kim. The race for state insurance commissioner has drawn more attention than usual as insurance carriers have withdrawn from the state or restricted new business and homeowners see their rates spike or express anchor over the handling of claims after 2025's Los Angeles area wildfires.

This year for the first time, two Democrats are vying for the position due to the state's top two primary system, State Senator Ben Allen and former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim. And we'll hear from both of them shortly, but first KQED science and climate reporter Danielle Venton joins us for some background. Hey Danielle.

Danielle Venton (1:34)

Hi Mina.

Mina Kim (1:35)

So first, remind us what California's insurance commissioner does, a position that's currently held by Ricardo Lara.

Danielle Venton (1:42)

Yeah. So the commissioner basically runs a state consumer protection agency, the Department of Insurance. It's an elected role, has been since the late 80s. It used to be appointed by the governor and they're the top regulator for property, car, life insurance. They have a very small role in regulating health insurance.

Property insurance is really kind of the reason that this race has a lot of attention. Historically, this has been kind of a sleepy race, but it's a really exciting one to watch this election cycle. And it's the only competitive state, statewide race, really.

Mina Kim (2:16)

And so what's the situation here in California? Characterize it for us, the key challenges the next insurance commissioner will be inheriting.

Danielle Venton (2:24)

Yes. So this position has to perform sort of a tricky balancing act. That's classically how this role has been envisioned. Their job is to protect consumers and simultaneously make sure that the industry is well regulated and make sure that California is a place where insurance companies want to sell insurance. You know, companies like farmers, all-state, state farm, they are not like PG&E, which is a utility and has to offer us service. So these companies can sell or not sell to us as they wish. And we saw almost half a million Californians have their policies canceled or not renewed in the last few years, between 21 and early 25

We saw major carriers, including those three, either halt new business or scale back significantly.

And that led to almost the entire, the complete collapse of the home insurance market in the state. You know, and that would have been unbelievably dire. If that had happened, you can't buy a home, you can't sell a home, you can't carry mortgage without insurance, and you can't protect yourself against disasters without insurance. It's a key line of defense we have against the climate fuel disasters that we're seeing more and more. And having insurance prevents a disaster from derailing people's lives. So this role is so important. It has a lot of power over determining how insurance companies operate in this state and helps influence the health of the insurance market.

Mina Kim (3:59)

And in the meantime, what you're describing is, you know, the fact that many property owners are having a hard time finding insurance or affording insurance. Premiums have gone up dramatically as well. A lot of folks have had to go into the FAIR Plan, right? Can you just remind us what that is?

Danielle Venton (4:15)

Yeah, so the FAIR Plan is the state's insurer of last resort. It is mandated by the state and overseen by the state, but it is not a state program. It is run by private insurance companies. You know, and the, we still have a lot of insurance woes in the market right now, Mina, but I would say we've actually sort of seen the beginnings of pulling back from the brink of the insurance crisis. These companies are offering more policies. It is easier to get coverage. I mean, it's not cheaper.

You know, just last week, we saw the Fair Plan raise its rates by 29%, but that said, each quarter we are seeing fewer people have to go on the Fair Plan before. So we, so some people think we're sort of at an inflection point where there's some recovery. We still have a long way to go, of course.