Ricardo Lara said he will look at information provided by State Farm before revisiting his previous decision to reject the company’s emergency rate hike.

California’s Insurance Commissioner has not decided whether he will approve State Farm’s emergency interim request to increase insurance rates.

By Levi Sumagaysay, CalMatters California’s largest insurer should know within a couple of weeks whether it can raise premiums on its nearly 3 million policies in the state after making its case in a face-to-face meeting with Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara recently rejected State Farm’s request for “emergency” rate increases, setting up what could be a highly consequential showdown with the state’s biggest insurer — and going against the recommendation of his staff experts.

LOS ANGELES — California's insurance commissioner turned down a request by State Farm General for an emergency 22% hike of its home insurance rates due to the Los Angeles wildfires,

While continuing to be shrouded in controversy as it threatens to drop more policies if its California rate hike is rejected, State Farm reported a $5.3 billion net income in 2024, reversing a $6.3 billion net loss in 2023, driven by capital gains and a significant reduction in its pretax operating loss.

State Farm wants to raise its rates by about 22% for California homeowners, which would affect about one million people.

State Farm has given Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara a stark choice: approve a rate increase consumer advocates say amount to $600 per household, or run the risk that California’s largest insurer may drop even more policies across the state.

State Farm executives made it clear that if the California Department of Insurance does not approve the increases, the insurer may move forward with dropping even more policies, reducing coverage across the state.