Californians Still Paying Trump Administration’s and Republicans’ Massive Climate-Driven Risk Shift Protecting Insurers and Polluters
WASHINGTON, DC – As Californians prepare to elect a new insurance commissioner in November, a new CalMatters report debunks the myths insurers have used to justify skyrocketing premiums, revealing that carriers raked in record profits even as families across the state struggled to afford coverage.
“For years, insurance companies have blamed California’s regulations and climate disasters for their sky-high rates, while quietly banking record profits and handing their executives massive bonuses,” said Jayson O’Neill, spokesperson for Unlocking America’s Future. “Homeowners and renters are footing the bill for a crisis insurers themselves are profiting from, all while dodging accountability. As voters prepare to choose California’s next insurance commissioner, they deserve the truth: this industry can afford to do right by policyholders, but it’s chosen not to.”
Insurers collected $68.7 billion in premiums last year, more than double the $25.3 billion collected in 2024, while their financial cushion swelled to an all-time high of $1.27 trillion, and chief executives at the ten largest insurers pocketed a combined $134 million in 2024 pay. Home insurance corporations massive profits and excessive CEO pay comes after the third-highest year on record for billion-dollar climate disasters last year.
The report also found California’s consumer protections and regulations are not driving the crisis. In Florida, a low-regulation state with few consumer and policyholder protections, has one of the nation’s most expensive home insurance premiums. The report also highlighted how this crisis isn’t just impacting homeowners, noting that landlords are passing along rising premiums to their tenants in California.
Californians are still facing unprecedented climate-related risks and skyrocketing insurance premiums. A recent report from Stanford University found growing wildfire risk as the primary driver behind 84% average premium increase over the last five years, while out-of-pocket deductibles nearly doubled over the same period.
The climate change risk-shift onto homeowners by the insurance industry has been coupled with a sea change shift at the federal level of declining support, including outright climate denial, polluter protections, preparedness and hardening cuts, withheld resilience and recovery funding, and politically-motivated FEMA resource management and allocation under the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Rep. David Valadao (CA-22) and Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-48) haven’t taken any action to hold insurers accountable and both voted to gut the disaster preparedness funding their own constituents depend on while taking home insurance industry campaign donations.
KEY FINDINGS:
Insurers collected $68.7 billion in premiums last year, more than double the $25.3 billion collected in 2024, while their combined financial cushion hit an all-time high of $1.27 trillion.
The state-mandated FAIR Plan, run by an alliance of insurance companies rather than the state, now covers more than 684,000 policies, a 152% jump since 2023, leaving homeowners paying more for less coverage.
Florida, one of the least-regulated insurance markets in the country, has one of the nation’s most expensive home insurance premiums, undercutting the claim that California’s consumer protections and regulations are to blame for its crisis.
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