Letters to the Editor: A possible answer to California’s FAIR Plan woes

To the editor: The problem with the FAIR Plan for fire insurance is that the risk pool isn’t large enough (“Insurer of last resort kept growing. Then L.A. fire victims paid the price,” April 23). The California Legislature could address the issues by limiting the sale of fire insurance to only the FAIR Plan. Property owners could be free to purchase related insurance to their current, shareholder-dictated companies. This way, the risk for loss from fire would be spread among all property owners and not just those in high-risk areas, especially as high-risk areas seem to now be spread throughout the state.

Joseph Haythorn, Los Angeles

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To the editor: The problems facing our insurance companies and the state FAIR Plan have been predicted as a result of our inattention to climate change. Günther Thallinger, who’s on the advisory board of one of the world’s biggest insurance companies, Allianz SE, warned that climate change if left unchecked would wreak havoc on the world’s economic systems. He predicts that as environmental catastrophes continue to rise, insurance companies would no longer be able to offer insurance on homes and other infrastructure, and governments would not be able to bridge the differences. Without insurance, mortgage companies could no longer offer mortgages and without those, our banking industry would collapse.

We are already seeing the beginnings of his prediction with insurance companies pulling out of much of California and the state plan having difficulty covering its costs. If this is not a call for drastic action on our part as citizens, then I am not sure what it would take. We need to make sure our government acts now in confronting the climate crisis.

Karl Reitz, San Clemente