Californians face another massive insurance rate hike from climate disasters, while Big Oil pays nothing

A $4 billion loss from recent catastrophic wildfires has led California’s “insurer of last resort” to seek a massive 36% average rate hike. This is just the latest example of rising climate-driven insurance costs falling on policyholders instead of the Big Oil companies fueling the climate crisis.

If the request from California FAIR Plan (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) is approved, it would be the largest increase in at least 7 years for the program that provides a basic level of home insurance to homeowners that have been denied coverage from private insurers in the state. 

Enrollment in the FAIR plan has surged in recent years due to a series of deadly and destructive wildfires that scientists agree have been worsened by the warmer and drier conditions brought by climate change. The plan already required an emergency $1 billion bailout to stay afloat following the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles earlier this year.

As everyday Californians face higher home insurance premiums, higher rents and dropped coverage, state leaders are increasingly searching for ways to make the industry most responsible for climate change — the fossil fuel industry — help shoulder the financial consequences. Former insurance commissioners and current state legislators have called for Big Oil to cover some of the financial losses from extreme weather disasters, citing the industry’s well-documented history of deceiving the public about their product’s contribution to climate change.

“The fossil fuel industry knew decades ago that their products would supercharge extreme weather disasters, but chose to lie to the public about the problem,” said CCI Political Director Iyla Shornstein. “It’s not fair that California homeowners have to continually pay more for home insurance while the companies that caused the problem and lied about it keep raking in profits. It’s time for policymakers to protect Californians from massive rate hikes by bringing Big Oil to the table to make them pay for the damage they’ve caused.”