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Letters to the Editor: My home insurance policy isn’t being renewed. Desperate Californians need help

A firefighter sprays a wildfire near a fence.
A firefighter battles the Saddleridge fire in Porter Ranch on Oct. 11, 2019.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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To the editor: I purchased my home in the San Gabriel Mountains community of Wrightwood in 2017. Since then, I’ve been insured through AAA. (“Amid homeowner insurance crisis, consumer advocates and industry clash at hearing,” April 24)

Last week, I received notice of non-renewal because of wildfire risk. I’ve paid my policies in full each year and never had a claim. It was suggested that I try the FAIR plan, California’s insurer of last resort.

I contacted the California Department of Insurance, figuring it would want to know I’m not being renewed, and it would need information for its records so it could keep track of the insurance catastrophe in the Golden State. The department, however, wasn’t interested.

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Since then, I’ve contacted a broker through the FAIR plan. My insurance premium will be increasing by more than 46%.

Please, lawmakers, for the sake of this state and its residents, represent your citizens’ interests and not those of the behemoth insurance companies. The “algorithms and artificial intelligence” that the insurance companies want to use aren’t the answer to this problem — good government is.

Jonathan Lewis, Wrightwood, Calif.

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