Raybyrnes … I agree with you 100%. Thanks for providing balance to this.
Bubbleguy, you are clueless here and stirring the pot with much too much pessimism as usual. Your link provided insight to the worst side of the insurance industry that any major industry has on the record, if you spend the time to research in order to provide a biased report. By and large, as the CA DOI Commissioner Steve Poizner stated himself, only 10-15% of the carriers have negative trends in their claims practices worthy of his office looking into.
A least a part of the problem in 2003 (Cedar Fire in San Diego) rested on the dramatic increase in construction costs and the consumer for not questioning coverage levels for fear of having to pay additional premium.
On your comments regarding underwriting, the actual score driven database is C.L.U.E.® (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report (yes, this is owned by choicepoint) and this remains but only one aspect of risk evaluation and not always entirely accurate. It would be difficult to find anyone that was non-renewed for a single wildfire loss event.
Additionally, carriers cannot simply raise rates without first going through a lengthy rate increase filing with the CA DOI that is scrutinized at many levels.
