Experts Warn Climate Change Might Cripple California’s Insurance Market

Insurance industry experts are warning California lawmakers that climate change-exacerbated events -- primarily wildfires -- pose an ever-increasing threat to the state’s property insurance system, which they say is unsustainable due to legal restrictions on rate increases, outdated regulatory policies and dwindling competition. “The California market is precarious. And I think that there are several precipitating factors that could move us into a more severe stage of crisis,” testified Nancy Watkins, a principal and consulting actuary with industry consultant firm...