Chamber Hosts State of Insurance Industry Talk

If you’ve been following the news and wondering, “What the heck is going on with insurance providers?” you might want to attend a free July 19 forum being presented by the Castro Valley and Eden Area Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber Executive Director Gary Slate said the recent news has been full of alarming stories about home and property insurance. Some people find their policies won't be renewed, while others are getting canceled outright, and some can't find coverage at all, particularly in wildfire areas.

Slate said that some companies have even stopped writing policies in California or left the state altogether, while a few have even ceased operations in the U.S.

“When some of the largest have left, it’s alarming,” Slate said.

The Chamber hopes to provide some perspective on events, some guidance on how to respond, and answer questions people might have about exactly how insurance works, Slate added.

According to Chamber President Todd Anglin, himself a State Farm Insurance agent, that includes how far business coverage extends and where it meets personal coverage.

Many businesspeople don’t realize, he said as an example, that if a business closes due to something they're already covered for, that loss of business, while closed, is also covered. Nor does everyone know that your business insurance may cover theft of work equipment from your home.

Meanwhile, he said people tend to protect buildings via insurance while forgetting about their contents, which can also be expensive to replace.

Anglin will be speaking at the event, along with fellow insurance industry veterans Julie Sumiki of Castro Valley and  Rick Hatcher, board president of the Hayward Area Parks and Recreation District (HARD).

Slate said that among local Chamber members, it is Realtors who are perhaps most concerned with the insurance tumult. In addition to rapidly changing interest rates that affect buyers' decisions, one nearly always must insure a house to get a mortgage.

“Once you get outside of central Castro Valley, the canyons are hard to insure,” Slate said.

Anglin added that big losses for insurers have driven some of the tumult. Insurance rates are regulated, and approved rates are based on long-term averages of covered claims—which have been way above the average the last few years with wildfires and winter storms.

Insurance companies try to protect themselves against unusually high losses by buying reinsurance, effectively insurance for insurers, said Anglin, but that’s getting harder for them to find.

Even FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements), California’s insurer of last resort for people in high-risk areas, is looking into buying more reinsurance but is having trouble finding it, he said.

Anglin did want to reassure State Farm customers that the company has prided itself on never refusing to renew, other than for normal business reasons like nonpayment of premiums.

But, said the Chamber president, “If you have insurance now, I suggest keeping it.”

 People can attend the event in person, at the Chamber’s Ashland Office (15970 E. 14th Street), where they should bring their lunch, or attend via Zoom. It's free, but you do need to register ahead of time by emailing Gary Slate at gary@castrovalleychamber.com.

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