California homeowners pushing state to put a lid on skyrocketing insurance costs

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Thousands of California homeowners were recently dropped by their insurance companies, with some facing massive rate hikes.

On Tuesday, some of them gathered for a press conference prior to an insurance oversight hearing.

"Last year we had 100% full coverage," says homeowner Bruce Breslau. "Now we have half of that."

Referring to the collective costs for homeowners of the community in Chatsworth where he represents the HOA, Beslau adds: "However, the premium went from $349,000 to a whopping $1.7 million."

He's one of several who came to an insurance committee oversight hearing in downtown Los Angeles. They are opposed to Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara's proposed regulations.

"Bottom line, these regulations are not going to get people more coverage but we're all going to be paying more in insurance premiums," says Jamie Court from Consumer Watchdog.

Californians are dealing with rate increases, and insurance policies getting non-renewed or canceled.

"My insurance shouldn't cost me as much as my mortgage," says Gigi Bannister, who lives in Crestline.

Lara says insurance companies have asked for rate increases but his regulations will push insurers to resume writing new policies in high-risk areas.

"We have every authority within our existing legal system to hold them accountable. Claw back the rate if they're not meeting the standards in the agreement, and that is really historic," Lara says.

But critics such as Consumer Watchdog don't feel it's enough.

Harvey Rosenfeld from Consumer Watchdog says "What's the battle about right now? The battle is this: For the last 18 months, the insurance companies have been pulling out of neighborhoods all over the state."

Lara says "This is why we need to get to availability of insurance. We can't have insurers retracting or leaving the state because then we're never going to get to affordability,"

The new regulations go into effect at the end of the year. Lara expects the insurance marketplace to begin stabilizing by the middle of 2025.