To adjust CA insurance, be smart, honest and sensible

By Stephen Bradford, especially for CalMatters

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Guest Comment written by

As the first anniversary of Southern California’s devastating wildfires approaches, CalMatters asked candidates for the 2026 state insurance commissioner race to share thoughts on what the state can do to help victims and stabilize insurers. This is the fourth answer. Read other candidates’ answers here, here and here.

Growing up in Gardena, we would sit around the dinner table and my dad would share stories about the importance of life insurance. You see, my father, Booker, sells life insurance. From a young age, I understood, watching and listening to him, the value of life, home and auto insurance.

I remember being with my dad on Sundays after church and watching him help people understand the importance of buying the right insurance and not missing a premium payment to keep the policy in force.

It is this consumer experience that I will bring to the Insurance Commissioner’s office – a lifelong appreciation of the importance of insurance.

How can California keep home insurers and coverage in the state?

I am reminded of Al Gore’s book An Inconvenient Truth.” He emphasized that while we have policies that can address climate change, the political will to change is lagging behind. Gore was also right when he described science as an “inconvenient truth.” We can’t have it both ways — either climate change is real and we need to deal with it responsibly, or it’s not.

I won’t sugar coat this – insurance rates are a problem because reality is in the game. I promise that any course impact will be based on science, reality and the best long-term interests of Californians. California can incentivize domestic insurers to increase market capacity by continuing to implement a sustainable underwriting strategy.

We can be faster and more efficient when reviewing rate requests by increasing the rate review team, eliminating unproductive administrative hurdles not required by Proposition 103 and focusing on eliminating the uncertainty and friction inherent in the current regulation-based rate and formulary application process.

We need to create a fast lane or flex lane to increase or decrease the speed below a certain threshold (eg 5%). And it makes perfect sense to deregulate commercial rates because commercial policyholders are sophisticated buyers with sophisticated brokers and risk managers and other tools at their disposal.

How can California stop insurers from raising prices?

To create the best options for consumers, we need to have a vibrant insurance market with competition. As a Commissioner, I will ensure that consumers have options – that means a competitive market with multiple insurers competing for business.

As Insurance Commissioner, I will ensure that insurers do not take advantage of consumers, but get the rate review process they need to keep their capital in California. I will modernize and adequately staff the department’s rate regulation bureau to scrutinize insurers who attempt to charge excessive rates.

I plan to improve user education.

Despite all the disruption in recent years, prices in California are about the national average and much lower than in East Coast disaster areas. When considering the high cost of housing and rebuilding, it’s fair to say that property insurance rates in California are right now compared to other disaster risk locations in our country.

How should California stabilize the FAIR plan?

The current overreliance on the FAIR plan is not sustainable. We need to start a process to reduce the number of policies in the FAIR plan. I believe this will be best done through a fully functioning, competitive insurance market.

I support the implementation of Assembly Bill 226which will allow bonds to be issued to finance claims costs, to increase the liquidity and claims-paying capacity of the FAIR plan, to restore bonds previously issued for this purpose, and to reduce reliance on costly reinsurance.

We did this 25 years ago when we faced a collapse in workers’ compensation. Rep. Lisa Calderon’s bill could do it again for the property insurance crisis we’re facing now.

I want to appreciate the inclusion of the FAIR Plan in the California Insurance Guaranty Association as a means of more effectively allocating risk among all parties who benefit from—and are burdened by—the realities of the California market.

In summary, the revival of our insurance market will not happen overnight because the problems and issues did not materialize overnight. It will take time and the will to make tough decisions. I have that ability and I’m willing to make those hard choices.

But let’s keep in mind, California insurance consumers still pay less than East Coast hurricane ratepayers. California’s insurance market didn’t collapse the way it did in Florida, where major insurers — not just low-market-share companies — abandoned the state.

All we have to do is look at the Florida insurance market to learn what not to do.

Here we have an opportunity to fix our market. We just have to be honest, smart and reasonable.

Candidate guest comments are published in the order they are received.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.