Another major insurer is halting new policy sales in California
CBSN
Allstate, one of the nation's largest insurance companies, has joined State Farm in deciding to halt sales of property and casualty coverage to new customers in California, saying it's too pricey to underwrite policies in the state which has seen thousands of natural disasters in recent years.
Allstate quietly stopped issuing new policies in California months ago, but didn't announce the move until Friday. Allstate was the fourth-largest insurer in California, according to the most recent 2021 state data. It earned $4.3 billion in premiums that year and incurred $2.6 billion in losses.
"We paused new homeowners, condo and commercial insurance policies in California last year so we can continue to protect current customers," Allstate told CBS News in a statement Friday. "The cost to insure new home customers in California is far higher than the price they would pay for policies due to wildfires, higher costs for repairing homes, and higher reinsurance premiums."
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