Statefarm.com

“We’re steadily marching toward an uninsurable future.”
https://www.vox.com/climate/23746045/state-farm-california-climate-change-insurance-wildfire-florida-flood
In a report published in April, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara admonished the industry to better account for far-reaching risks like those wrought by climate change.
“The insurance sector no longer has the luxury of thinking only of the year ahead,” he wrote. “Insurance companies, regulators, and consumers all must learn to consider and prepare for the long-term.”
A week ago, California’s largest insurer did just that — but perhaps not in the way Lara had hoped.
State Farm announced that it will not accept any new applications for business or personal property and casualty insurance in the Golden State. The company, accounting for 20 percent of bundled home insurance policies and 13 percent of commercial policies in California, said it was facing “historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure, and a challenging reinsurance market.” It will still keep existing policy holders on its books for now, but the announcement signals that risks are growing beyond what State Farm, a company worth $131 billion at the end of 2022, can bear.
Insuring property in California has been a dicey proposition in recent years. Torrential rainfall this past winter caused as much as $1.5 billion in insured losses this year. The state has also suffered the costliest wildfires in US history, including the 2018 Camp Fire, which led to more than $10 billion in losses.
Human action is driving many of these risks. Real estate prices have been rising in California for decades, and populations are growing in the places most vulnerable to burning and flooding. Decades of suppressing natural fires have allowed fuel for wildfires to accumulate to dangerously high levels. Humans are also heating up the planet, lifting sea levels, amplifying downpours, and exacerbating the conditions for massive blazes.
So when disasters do occur, they cause extraordinary damage to lives, livelihoods, and property. These threats have led insurance companies to drop existing policies or stop issuing new coverage. “It’s not just the risk of loss but the magnitude of loss when a California house burns down,” said Dave Jones, who served as California’s insurance commissioner from 2011 until 2018. “That trend has only gotten worse over time.”
State Farm isn’t the first insurance company to cut back in California, and states like Louisiana and Florida have also seen insurers decline coverage due to mounting catastrophic losses. “We’re steadily marching toward an uninsurable future, not just in California but throughout the United States,” said Jones, who now leads the Climate Risk Initiative at the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
That in turn stands to ripple throughout the economy. Insurance is the major financial signal of where risks lie, and changes in coverage availability and cost can spur individuals, businesses, and policymakers to change their behavior. Insurance can alter where people live and whether they can rebuild in the wake of a calamity. But climate change is just one of several issues at play here, and the march toward uninsurability began decades ago. Bringing risks to a more manageable level will require systemic action to reduce the threat, from better building codes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions overall.
State Farm’s shift is a sign that climate change isn’t a far-off threat; it’s having effects today, on people’s lives and now in the financial sector. And more companies will likely follow their lead.
Climate change poses a conundrum for insurers
The reasons State Farm gave for declining new insurance coverage — higher construction costs, more expensive reinsurance, and increasing disaster risk — are all interrelated, though not exclusively due to climate change.
Remember that the goal of insurance is to spread out the risk of catastrophes like fires, floods, earthquakes, and storms. “Ideally, from the insurance company perspective, you have risks that materialize randomly,” said Sean Hecht, managing attorney at the California regional office for Earthjustice who studies insurance and climate change. The problem is that climate change often raises the chances of these events occurring at the same time and in the same place, an effect known as correlated risk.
At the same time, rising interest rates have made it more expensive to borrow money to buy property. Lingering supply chain disruptions for materials like lumber have driven up the costs of building new homes. California is facing a dire housing shortage, driving up the value of existing real estate and making it far more expensive to replace destroyed buildings. And new building codes intended to better withstand disasters and reduce greenhouse gas emissions are making construction more expensive.
That means a lot of money is on the line when it starts to pour or when a wildfire ignites. “There’s a lot of insured value that ends up in claims that have to be paid all at the same time. That creates risks for the solvency of insurers,” Hecht said. “More expensive housing and more expensive construction exacerbates that same problem.”
Insurance companies can cushion these blows with reinsurance. It’s pretty much what it sounds like: insurance for insurance companies. Reinsurance providers act as a backstop and help front-line insurers cover claims when a massive disaster strikes. As a result, international reinsurers like Swiss Re keep a close eye on global systemic risks branching from rising average temperatures. “It’s actually reinsurers that have been sounding the alarm about climate change and disaster risk for decades,” said Hecht.
Reinsurers have also been grappling with massive payouts due to correlated disasters, and some have responded by raising their rates.
One bit of good news is that extreme weather events are killing fewer people. That’s due to a number of factors, including better warning systems, more robust evacuation strategies, and construction codes that can better withstand floods, fires, and winds. But the global population is growing in size, particularly in areas likely to see future disasters, and it’s growing richer, which makes these events more costly when they happen.
NOAA reports that the US has already seen seven disasters this year with a damage tally exceeding $1 billion.
That’s a massive challenge for insurance companies and for policymakers. If insurers priced their policies in line with growing risks, they’ll soon be too expensive for all but the wealthiest people, leaving the most vulnerable with no protection. If rates are capped too low, insurers may not have enough money to cover all their claims or stay in business. In California, some insurance companies ended up leaving the market or dropping their customers altogether.
Policymakers imposed limits on how much insurers could raise rates, whether they could drop existing customers, and how much they could factor climate change into their calculations. Some of these restrictions have since loosened, but not enough for State Farm.
There are other approaches as well. The federal government created the National Flood Insurance Program to cover flood losses since few private insurers would underwrite these policies. The program, however, is more than $20 billion in debt and had to raise rates last year, leading a number of homeowners to drop coverage.
California does have a program called the FAIR Plan, which is intended as an insurer of last resort for wildfires. But it has very expensive policies compared to private insurers. Jones suggested that one approach to expand coverage would be to subsidize these policies for low-income people in high-risk areas. The high price of the insurance plan, however, is an important warning sign. “What we shouldn’t do is artificially suppress insurance prices,” he said. “It’s expensive because it reflects the real risk of wildfire.”

This is pretty freaky as a landlord. I'm not in CA, but I'm sure this is just the beginning. FL, TX could easily be next...can't buy mortgaged property without insurance!
After seeing insurance climb steeply over the last couple years, it's very unsettling to see this trend.
https://newsroom.statefarm.com/state-farm-general-insurance-company-california-new-business-update/
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/state-farm-no-new-homeowners-insurance-applications-california/3239510/

State Farm said it will no longer accept new applications for home and business insurance in California because of an increase in catastrophic events and construction costs, the company announced Friday.
"State Farm General Insurance Company made this decision due to historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure, and a challenging reinsurance market," the insurance company said in a statement.
The new guideline took effect Saturday and includes all business and personal lines property and casualty insurance. It will not, however, impact State Farm's personal auto insurance policies, the company said.
State Farm's independent contractor agents will continue to serve current customers who already have property and casualty insurance with the company, meaning they can still make claims for property that is already covered by the company. The company has also not issued any non-renewals at this time.
In 2021, California experienced at least 7,396 wildfires, which burned nearly 2.6 million acres of land, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. In 2022, the state experienced 7,490 wildfires that burned 362,455 acres.
State Farm, which was the largest property and casualty insurer in California in 2021, brought in over $7 billion in premiums that year, but incurred losses of about $4 billion, state data showed.
According to the California Department of Insurance (CDI), insurance companies covering property may be required to cover living expenses such as emergency shelter and food, personal property and valuables, damage to the property and other buildings or structures on it, the removal of trees, shrubs and debris, and water damage not caused by a flood.
The company said it will continue to work with CDI and evaluate the market over time, indicating that this new policy could change depending on the economy.
State Farm is not the first insurance company to stop or limit property insurance coverage in California due to the increase in wildfires and state regulations. According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal last year, American International Group (AIG) notified thousands in California that their policies would not be renewed.
"It's necessary to take these actions now to improve the company's financial strength," the statement said. "We will continue to evaluate our approach based on changing market conditions."
CDI told CBS News in a statement Saturday that State Farm's decision is the result of uncontrollable factors, and does not affect the decisions of other insurance companies in the state.
"While insurance companies prioritize their short-term financial goals, the long-term goal of the Department of Insurance is protecting consumers," the statement said. "The factors driving State Farm's decision are beyond our control, including climate change, reinsurance costs affecting the entire insurance industry, and global inflation."
Last year, CDI enacted a new state policy which requires insurers to provide insurance discounts for homeowners and businesses that take actions to reduce fire danger around their structures.

https://newsroom.statefarm.com/state-farm-general-insurance-company-california-new-business-update/

Hey guys, I am currently a student after being in the military for awhile. I got out last year and I landed an online interview with state farm as claim specialist - property field inspection
https://jobs.statefarm.com/main/jobs/32066?lang=en-us
I have literally 0 experience in any insurance or claim role, and I don't even know how to do well in this interview. I been doing a bit of research regarding the role before the interview but information is limited when it comes to interviewing for the position.
Also does anyone have any experience in this field? if so can you tell me what it's like?

5/26 Summary of all the advice update: https://www.reddit.com/Autobody/comments/13sku51/consolidated_tips_for_car_parts_in_backorde?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
5/25 11am CDT Update: I called/begged my auto shop and Statefarm. Statefarm has approved the car to be released to me without the diagnostic unit and the autoshop will have me sign a waiver. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! What a relief!!!! I will write a more detailed update later because I'm busy right now. There are a few things I learned that might be useful for others in similar situations.
5/25 8am CDT Update: Guys I’m so sorry I messed up the part number yesterday! The correct part number is: “77960TLAA32-Diagnostic Unit EX, EX-L, Touring- $1080.18”
What happened was I emailed the dealer on Tuesday and usually he replies in a day but this time he didn’t, since it was urgent yesterday I tried finding the “sensor” part (from phone conversations he used “diagnostic” and “sensor”) in my statefarm estimates document and found the other part which is a “crash sensor” and I assumed that was the part (and the diagnostic unit’s part number was not displayed on the document but the crash sensor’s part number was and right underneath the crash sensor it said “Air bag system diagnosis” so that further made me think it was the correct part).
Sorry if I wasted people’s time searching for a wrong part for me. A lot of the advice is general and I will still go ahead and make those calls today.
I didn’t expect such a large amount of response and support from asking about a car part, every reply means so much to me because there are more options to explore and the situation is no longer completely helpless. I am extremely grateful. I wish I could pay you guys back for the time. I will keep you guys updated.
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I crashed my 2019 Honda CR-V EX at the end of Jan 2023 and it's been 4 months and the autoshop has been waiting for the last part: 77930TLAA01, which is a "Front Crash Sensor Assembly" this whole time. (see update)
The autoshop person says that due to the global backorder, some people have their car parts waiting for over a year!! He says the dealer he's buying from has been delaying parts month after month for other customers, so basically their ETA estimate is unreliable.
I feel helpless ... my rental insurance is out. My husband is super mad at me. My marriage is suffering.

1. Is there a way where I can get this part fast? Can I like call somewhere in Japan directly to ship it to me directly? At this point I am willing to spend 1 or 2 thousand to get it here fast because I can't afford to spend $40/day ($1.2k/month) to drive nice fancy new cars for many more months!
2. If there is anyone with knowledge about the wait, how long do you think I will still have to wait?
3. Is there a place where I can get old rental cars?

Thank you guys so so much! The fear of the unknown is the scariest thing.