TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. – Tehama County is sending a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom in hopes of declaring a state of emergency to stabilize home insurance throughout the state. 

There are economic impacts with insurance companies canceling policies throughout the state, limiting what insurance homeowners qualify for based on where they live.

“We’ve been subject to the elements, wildfires, and various natural disasters and things like that. It’s nothing we are not familiar with. The insurance industry has made it more difficult for homeowners in this area because of canceling policies that they normally would’ve written in the past,” Tehama County District 4 Supervisor, Matt Hansen, said. 

Tehama County Leaders signed off on this letter requesting Governor Newsom to declare a state of emergency to stabilize the state’s home insurance marketplace. 

Hansen drafted the letter after Shasta County supervisors sent a similar letter last month. Some agencies have stopped selling policies altogether. For example, State Farm stopped selling insurance for new homes because of wildfire risks and construction costs. Those two reasons are also why some agencies have increased their rates.

Hansen said that he and his family lost their home due to a house fire last year. He told me the process has been tough.

“I can definitely emphasize with people that have lost everything; we’ve lost nearly everything, and having to restart over it is not something that anybody anticipates in life. When I’m done rebuilding what I’ve lost, I worry I won’t be able to have insurance afterwards because I could get canceled like everybody else or that I won’t be able to afford to re-insure my home. I’m in the same boat as everybody,” Hansen said. 

The letter aims to improve the efficiency, speed, and transparency of the Department of Insurance rate approval process. With Tehama County being the second county in our area to send out a letter asking to declare a state of emergency, Hansen hopes this will spread awareness. 

For insurance companies to increase their policy rates, it first has to be approved by the California Department of Insurance. 

As we previously reported, State Farm, the largest insurer in the state, recently requested to increase its rates by as much as 52%. The company was previously approved to increase its rates by 20% last December.