The issue is state law forbids them from not taking their money if they operate anywhere else in the state, with certain exceptions such as historical disasters (which now the Palisades has). And the rates can’t be adjusted on a per-property basis, either. That’s why many insurers have left the state entirely.
Many properties have no willing insurer left, and have to participate in a state-funded plan (that many fear is not actually solvent). Many more properties only have one or two insurers left.
State Farm was the only insurer left in the Palisades, and my guess is after the moratorium to cancel policies is up in one year, if they can’t reflect the risk in their premiums to account for this fire, the Palisades will have no insurer left either. And then rebuilding will be impossible.
… the Palisades will have no insurer left either. And then rebuilding will be impossible.
I have no insight into how inevitable this fire was, but I do hope there is a measured approach to reconstruction. Do not rebuild in the exact same place, in the exact same way if it is destined to happen again. I previously heard a story about some guy whose house had been flooded and repaired(?) rebuilt(?) 11+ times. That entire area is clearly not fit for human habitation, stop letting them build in dangerous areas.
You’re not trying to convince me here, you’re trying to convince the state. I agree!
People should rebuild where they want as much as they want, so long as they’re willing to accept the financial risk to do so (I.E. higher premiums that reflect the risk… which may be 10x higher, who knows! A lot of these Palisades home owners could, and would, pay for that risk, if only the law would let an insurer charge them for that)
State law does not let that happen, and all the risk is therefore subsidized by everyone else or not offered at all. Both worse outcomes!
I think the problem with leaving it all to premiums is that for things such as fires what everybody else does matters.
If everybody else has very flammable houses then the fire is going to spread and cause a ton of damage to _not houses_. The state really does need to clamp down on people using private land to cause public problems (like lack of water pressure in fire hydrants).
That entire area is clearly not fit for human habitation, stop letting them build in dangerous areas.
I'm not sure that's the correct take-away. I think you had in correct in the second sentence.
Do not rebuild in the exact same place, in the exact same way
If your area is a fire-prone, then yes I think you should be allowed to build there. However, your house better have taken into account fire. Whether it means you can't build houses within an acre of another or it has to be all stone, idk let qualified people figure out the requirements. But eventually everywhere in the US will have been hit by a natural disaster and the rule can't be you can't re-build, it just needs to be you need to account for what is likely to happen.
As to flooding, I don't know the specifics but if instead of rebuilding the same you put the house on stilts so just the staircase floods out every couple of years I think it's fine.
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well, if they couldn't insure them, then don't do take their money.
The issue is state law forbids them from not taking their money if they operate anywhere else in the state, with certain exceptions such as historical disasters (which now the Palisades has). And the rates can’t be adjusted on a per-property basis, either. That’s why many insurers have left the state entirely.
Many properties have no willing insurer left, and have to participate in a state-funded plan (that many fear is not actually solvent). Many more properties only have one or two insurers left.
State Farm was the only insurer left in the Palisades, and my guess is after the moratorium to cancel policies is up in one year, if they can’t reflect the risk in their premiums to account for this fire, the Palisades will have no insurer left either. And then rebuilding will be impossible.
You’re not trying to convince me here, you’re trying to convince the state. I agree!
People should rebuild where they want as much as they want, so long as they’re willing to accept the financial risk to do so (I.E. higher premiums that reflect the risk… which may be 10x higher, who knows! A lot of these Palisades home owners could, and would, pay for that risk, if only the law would let an insurer charge them for that)
State law does not let that happen, and all the risk is therefore subsidized by everyone else or not offered at all. Both worse outcomes!
I think the problem with leaving it all to premiums is that for things such as fires what everybody else does matters.
If everybody else has very flammable houses then the fire is going to spread and cause a ton of damage to _not houses_. The state really does need to clamp down on people using private land to cause public problems (like lack of water pressure in fire hydrants).
I'm not sure that's the correct take-away. I think you had in correct in the second sentence.
If your area is a fire-prone, then yes I think you should be allowed to build there. However, your house better have taken into account fire. Whether it means you can't build houses within an acre of another or it has to be all stone, idk let qualified people figure out the requirements. But eventually everywhere in the US will have been hit by a natural disaster and the rule can't be you can't re-build, it just needs to be you need to account for what is likely to happen.
As to flooding, I don't know the specifics but if instead of rebuilding the same you put the house on stilts so just the staircase floods out every couple of years I think it's fine.
insurance requires it, unfortunately.