Last January, standing in the wreckage of the Palisades Fire — the cars strewn about on the sides of the road, the toxic ash, and the lingering, all-pervasive smell — I was heartbroken.
But as the Palisades’ state senator, I was also immediately thrown into the emergency response – and the conditions I confronted there have been a continuing call to action.
My team and I rushed to help survivors begin the process of recovery. Working alongside families who had lost homes and livelihoods, I saw how a broken insurance system forced victims into exhausting battles to secure the help they were owed.
Californians created the Department of Insurance to protect consumers against dishonest terms and unfair pricing. Loopholes and budget cuts have weakened the office’s ability to defend consumer rights. At the same time, climate change, housing costs, aging infrastructure, and income inequality have made the baseline conditions of life in California riskier and costlier. Insurance rates are rising as people are getting dropped.
To meet this moment of crises and challenges, I’ll take four major steps: First, stabilize the insurance market. Second, hold the insurance industry accountable by rigorously enforcing state law and demanding transparency. Third, transform the Department into a modern, rapid-response agency focused on helping Californians. And fourth, target the root of the crisis by focusing on reducing risks.
My legislative experience and relationships will let me hit the ground running. I’ve got a strong reputation in Sacramento for solving difficult, complicated problems, and I’m proud to be endorsed by Senators Schiff and Padilla and most of my legislative Democratic colleagues. Those votes of confidence are also promises of collaboration, and I’m not waiting for November to get to work. Last session, I took on the industry by passing the Eliminate the List Act, a law requiring insurers to help get disaster victims back on their feet by providing up-front payments, rather than first forcing them to exhaustively list every item lost. And right now, I’m fighting for another powerful package of bills that will require insurers to step up faster after disaster strikes, help homeowners disaster-proof their properties, give consumers more warning and reasons before they lose coverage, penalize insurance companies for excessive delays, and develop a science-based approach to covering toxic smoke damage.
To fix this system, we need a regulator who is free of undue influence. I’m refusing insurance industry money, and fighting to close the revolving door into industry employment. For 11 years running, the California Clean Money Campaign has ranked me top in the legislature for my commitment to transparency and reform. I am independent, a trained litigator, and won’t tolerate industry misbehavior.
We also need to examine the Department of Insurance itself. The understaffed department has struggled to process cases on time, pay adequate attention to individual victims in need, and fully examine insurers’ finances. Californians need a stronger agency, and I’ve got a blueprint for modernization. I’ll restore and expand old regulations that allowed the department to supervise companies’ financial decisions, while speeding up rate cases and applications. I’ll build the department into a hub that educates Californians about insurance, risk reduction, disaster response, and consumer rights. And I’ll create new rapid-response capabilities, putting advisors and investigators on the ground as soon as disaster strikes.
As we make insurance more affordable and reliable, we must also reduce the disasters that strain the insurance market in the first place. California is being hammered with more frequent and devastating catastrophes, and that’s making the entire insurance market riskier and more expensive, exacerbating mistakes made by government and the private sector alike. I have led the charge in the legislature on climate and for investments in forest management, fire resiliency, and water infrastructure, and I’m proud that California Professional Firefighters and Environmental Voters have endorsed me.
Reducing risk also means increasing the resilience of our communities to disaster. I’m fighting in the legislature to raise standards so that new homes are less likely to burn or flood, pushing community planners to consider insurability and fire resilience, and creating new programs to make existing homes more fireproof. I’m also designing programs that will leverage public and private investments to reduce risk across communities.
I know that we can make our communities safer and more insurable because I’ve seen Californians do it. As I’ve travelled the state from Paradise to Escondido, I’ve seen communities built with more reliable evacuation routes and resilient homes and standards that are fully and affordably insured. Working together, and with the coordinating power of an engaged, determined Insurance Commissioner, we can make all of our state safer and more affordable. I hope you’ll join me.
Ben Allen is a candidate for state insurance commissioner. He is currently represents the 24th district in the California State Senate.