California homeowners could face property insurance hikes under new rulesCalifornia homeowners may face noticeable insurance rate hikes under new rules finalized by state regulators that allow property insurers to use complex climate algorithms — what consumer advocates call secret "black box" models — to set prices.
California’s property insurance rates are set by the state, which has led many property insurers such as State Farm and Allstate to stop accepting new customers or leave the state entirely. With payouts from wildfires and other disasters exceeding insurance premiums, insurers have no choice but to call it quits. At the same time, rising property insurance costs are pushing homeowners to other states, which S&P warned could cut into state tax revenue and cause downgrades to government credit. This leaves California regulators in a tough position — they can let insurers raise rates, which puts more pressure on Californians to leave, or they can refuse to raise rates and let insurers leave. Californians without any insurers in the area can still purchase the property insurance from FAIR, the state’s insurer-of-last-resort, but high rates and limited property value coverage mean it’s not a great option. The new regulations will allow insurers to use climate and catastrophe modeling to set much higher property insurance rates. Earlier this year, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara proposed letting insurers use these models in exchange for covering 85% of homeowners in wildfire areas — a move meant to take pressure off FAIR. “As California experiences more intense climate impacts, technology will tell us where the risks truly are and accurately price rates that reflect mitigation and hardening investments,” said Lara in a statement on the new regulation. Bozeman, Montana Home to a Booming Real Estate MarketThis region of the United States has a cold climate which should be able to deal with global warming in the future. In addition, this region of the United States has a lot of open space for those that are migrating from metropolitan areas of the country. It should be noted that Bozeman is Montana's most expensive city outside of mountain resort towns. However, if you have California Real Estate that you are willing to sell, then you can make the migration, fiscally speaking. Winters are tough in this region. The Winter Season can start as early as September and Spring usually does not show up until May.
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