Solving California’s Property Insurance Crisis is a Balancing Act

A brokerage leader has slammed California’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, for the worsening property insurance crisis in the state, saying over-regulation is contributing to increasing rates and carrier pullouts.

‘At the core, the insurance commissioner is exponentially compounding the problem,’ said Jamie Reid, chairman of the board at C3 Risk and Insurance Services.

Despite acknowledging catastrophic weather events due to global warming as the cause of enormous property losses and damage in recent years, Lara has failed to heed calls from the insurance industry on rate increases, according to Reid.