Orinda residents hit hard by insurance companies deciding not to renew coverage
It's news that many California homeowners don't want to hear: Insurance companies have been pulling the plug on their homeowner's policy.
But now California's largest home insurer announced it's not renewing roughly 30,000 policies in the state.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Orinda is being impacted the most by State Farm. A loss of 1,700 policies is the most in any zip code statewide and more than half of State Farm policy holders in Orinda will lose their coverage.
Tom Holland has lived in Orinda for 15 years. His home is tucked in the beautiful hillside where he takes daily walks with his two dogs.
After paying more and more each year for homeowners insurance, he just found out his policy won't be renewed.
"So I just called my broker and he said you're canceled," Tom Holland said. "That's it."
He's one of many State Farm policy holders to lose their insurance.
"I think it's been slowly coming at us for five years," he added.
Holland said he used to pay about $3,000 a year. That has steadily increased to roughly $8,000.
"Honestly, it's not a shock because it's been a known issue," he said. "And our premium has been going up 30% to 60% a year for the last five years."
This comes as Holland and many of his neighbors have taken steps to mitigate fire risk.
Yasaman Lee also found out Traveler's Insurance wouldn't be renewing her policy after 18 years. She's spent countless hours trying to find a new carrier.
"I got a list of people that can potentially insure me," Lee said. "I've gone on Nextdoor, Facebook, following all the leads. Especially after State Farm in Orinda hit pretty hard, but nothing panned out."
Lee even looked into the FAIR plan created by the state but the policy wouldn't begin to cover the cost of rebuilding her home.
"State needs to step it up," she said. "I mean the reality is, we've got homes. We're living here. They need to be insured. We need to be given some options and FAIR is not a viable option for many."
Holland is trying to stay positive about finding another company to insure his home but knows it's going to cost him more than ever before.
"Price goes up and the actual coverage goes down," he said.
State Farm released a statement saying it had to make tough but necessary decisions to not renew policies for the long term sustainability in California.