Insurance companies come back to rural California + Farming group gets new chairman [The Sacramento Bee]

Nov. 9—Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

INSURANCE COMPANIES TIPTOE BACK INTO RURAL CALIFORNIA

Via Dale Kasler...

Two of California's worst wildfires in 2018 cost Allstate Corp. a half-billion dollars, but the insurance conglomerate was able to give investors some reassuring news: It had already shrunk its footprint in California by half, creating a buffer of sorts against future losses.

Earlier this year, however, Allstate told California regulators it planned to expand its homeowners' coverage throughout the state — taking on new customers for the first time in nearly 15 years.

"We've been there for Californians throughout the wildfires by paying thousands of insurance claims and we extended our coverage offerings this year to help alleviate the homeowners' insurance availability crisis," the company said in a statement to The Sacramento Bee.

After the mega-disasters of 2017 and 2018, insurance carriers dropped tens of thousands of homeowners in the Sierra foothills and other fire-prone areas of California, forcing policyholders into a costly, state-mandated insurance pool. Customers who were paying, say, $2,000 a year for coverage are now paying twice or three times as much.

Now, however, something is stirring in what Allstate once dubbed "catastrophe-prone California." Following four years of turmoil, traditional insurance companies are inching their back into wildfire country.

Armed with higher rates — and better information about the risks from mega-fires — they're beginning to underwrite policies in areas they'd been abandoning. While the state-run insurance pool, the California FAIR Plan, is still taking on new customers, its rate of growth is slowing down.

One big company, CSAA Insurance Group, has promised not to drop any more customers through the end of 2023. Several major carriers are offering discounts to encourage homeowners to install fire-resilient roofs, clean the brush from their yards and take other safety measures.

Bottom line: A crisis that's plagued rural California is starting to moderate.

"There are little green sprouts, I would say, coming up," said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a consumer advocacy group based in San Francisco. "We are starting to see a little loosening in the underwriting."

NEW CHAIR AT WESTERN GROWERS ALLIANCE

The Western Growers Alliance on Monday announced that Coachella Valley native Albert P. Keck II will be taking over as chairman of the organization's board of directors for a one-year term.

Keck, who currently serves as chair of the California Date Administrative Committee and the California Date Commission, is a third-generation Californian and farmer.

"Our industry is grappling with issues and challenges more daunting than ever, and it seems the perfect time for a happy warrior to step into the role of Chairman of the Western Growers Board of Directors," said Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia in a statement. "Albert Keck is indeed a happy warrior, always looking to get after the toughest industry issues with a limitless supply of creative energy and imagination. I look forward to working with him to press forward against, or around, the obstacles confronting our members."

Keck replaces the outgoing Chairman Ryan Talley.

"I have been fortunate beyond words to serve my first two years in this position alongside Ryan Talley, who led us as Chairman through a historic pandemic with calm confidence and wise counsel," Puglia said. "As the only person to serve two years as WG's Chairman, Ryan has given far more time and effort for the greater good than could be anticipated. We are enormously grateful to him and to his family."

In a Q-and-A shared in a Western Growers Alliance media release, Keck said that he views labor and water as unending issues to tackle.

"They've always been there. It's bad because it seems like they are becoming white noise. It's like, what's new in the last 20 years? Labor and water are always going to be some of the most important issues that we're grappling with. But coming out of this COVID time in our country, what we're really starting to see is real threats to our supply and distribution channels. We're starting to realize how vulnerable we all are in our industry and our individual businesses," Keck said in the Q-and-A.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Why did no one ever tell me about the 'tell journalists to get a life' school of public relations?!?" — Matt Shupe, conservative public relations professional, discussing the Sac Bee story about Jennifer Siebel Newsom's deleted tweet via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

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Gavin Newsom's office has refused to say what family obligations caused him to cancel his trip to the United Nations climate change conference in Scotland, but his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, seemed to give a clue in a tweet she sent and then quickly deleted Sunday evening, via Sophia Bollag.

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Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert wants to show people the "behind the scenes" of police work in a new podcast she's launching called "Inside the Crime Files," via Lara Korte.

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The California business community has an idea for easing the supply chain crisis: Suspend recent labor-friendly laws affecting warehouse workers and independent contractors, via David Lightman and Jeong Park.

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