State Farm fires exec who bragged about dumping Calif. homeowner's policies, manipulating rate hikes

https://sjvsun.com/california/state-farm-fires-exec-who-bragged-about-
dumping-calif-homeowners-policies-manipulating-rate-hikes/

A high-level executive at State Farm was terminated this week following 
controversial statements regarding the orchestrated nature of California 
rate hikes and disparaging remarks made about Pacific Palisades 
homeowners, which were captured in an undercover video.

The video was captured by O’Keefe Media Group.

Driving the news: Haden Kirkpatrick, who held the position of vice 
president for innovation and venture capital at State Farm Mutual, was 
recorded implying that the request for rate hikes by the insurer’s 
California subsidiary was organized in a manner that diverged from common 
perceptions.

The undercover video, captured during an alleged January Tinder date, 
showed Kirkpatrick stating, “Our people look at this and say, ‘We’ve got 
like maybe $5 billion that we’re short if something happens.’ We’ll go to 
the Department of Insurance and say, ‘We’re overexposed here, you have to 
let us catch up our [rates].’ He’ll say ‘Nah.’ And we’ll say, ‘OK, then we 
are going to cancel these policies.'”

Claims meet reality: State Farm General, California’s largest home 
insurer, pursued an emergency 22% rate hike for its homeowners’ policies, 
attributing the need to recent fires and a $5 billion decline in its 
surplus account over the past decade. Following a hearing with Insurance 
Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who initially denied the hike but agreed to 
review additional evidence, the company disclosed possible actions it may 
take if the rate hike is not approved.

The estimated losses from the January 7 Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires 
are projected to exceed $7 billion for the company, although with 
reinsurance, the net losses are anticipated to be around $600 million.
Additional damaging statements: Kirkpatrick assailed Palisades residents 
for demanding  “natural areas around them for their ego,” referring to 
their community as “a f— desert.”

He also attacked a State Farm diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative 
for beefing up Latino employment in the company.

What they’re saying: In response to the video footage, Michael Soller, a 
representative for Commissioner Lara, emphasized the need for clarity from 
State Farm stating, “We want answers from State Farm. This only raises 
more questions.”

In a statement after the footage was released, State Farm announced that 
Kirkpatrick was “no longer with the company” and that his comments “do not 
reflect our position regarding the victims of this tragedy, the commitment 
we have demonstrated to the people of California, or our hiring practices 
across the company.”


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