State Farm confirmed Friday that it is pulling an ad that was going to run during next month’s Super Bowl, as the company receives criticism for recently canceling California homeowners’ insurance.
“State Farm, its agents, and employees are all focused on helping customers impacted by the Southern California wildfires in the midst of this tragedy,” a spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Our focus is firmly on providing support to the people of Los Angeles. We will not be advertising during the game as originally planned.”
The cost of a 30-second ad for the Super Bowl this year is reportedly at least $7 million. Last year, State Farm ran a 60-second spot, according to USA Today. The ad featured former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in front of a burning house.
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State Farm has received blowback after canceling thousands of home insurance policies in California last year due to the wildfire risk, among other factors.
The company said at the time that “historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure and a challenging reinsurance market” had informed the decision.
Fox News quoted Richard Giller, a Los Angeles fire insurance expert, as saying California lawmakers caused the policy cancelations by refusing to approve policy rate hikes, despite the huge number of losses companies were experiencing in the state.
“The insurance companies tried to seek approval for rate increases and the California Department of Insurance and the insurance commissioner decided, you know, they didn’t want homeowners to pay more money… It all came to a head with seven of the 12 largest insurance companies pulling out of the state,” Giller told the news outlet.
The state, seeking to stem the flow of insurers leaving the state, later agreed to allow the rate hikes, some in the double digits. State Farm was approved for a 20 percent increase, but Allstate was approved for a 34 percent rate hike, CBS reported.
The New York Times reported that in 2024 State Farm cut policies in the Santa Monica Mountains, which meant 70 percent of its customers in Pacific Palisades – about 1,600 homeowners – lost their coverage.
Actor James Woods, who lives in the Palisades, posted on social media the day after the wildfire in his area began last week that a major insurance company had “canceled all the policies in our neighborhood about four months ago.”
Actually one of the major insurances companies canceled all the policies in our neighborhood about four months ago. https://t.co/JS03dsV9rF
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 8, 2025
However, State Farm “announced Wednesday it will offer renewals to residential policyholders affected by the wildfires. The decision applies to policies held by homeowners, owners of rental dwellings, and residential community associations, including condominium associations,” according to USA Today.
Further, State Farm told The Hollywood Reporter, “We are proud to report that our customer contact is at 90%. We’ve received over 7,400 home and auto claims, and we are putting tens of millions of dollars back into customers’ hands,” they said. “These numbers will continue to rise as residents return and assess damage.”
The company was the largest property insurer in California, with 8.7 percent of the market in 2022, according to data from the California Department of Insurance.
NBC News reported Friday that the wildfires in the Los Angeles area have killed at least 27 people and destroyed more than 12,300 structures.
The most damaging of the blazes have been the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains, near Pasadena.
Cal Fire’s website Friday showed the Palisades Fire has destroyed over 23,700 acres and is 31 percent contained, while the Eaton Fire has impacted over 14,000 acres and is 65 percent contained.
Local authorities received major criticism for their initial response to the Palisades Fire, where the fire hydrants quickly ran out of water.
Around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, a hydrant firefighters were using on Lachman Lane ran dry. You can hear what sounds like air pushing out, but no water. #PalisadesWildfire #PalisadeFire #PacificPalisades pic.twitter.com/09e6FRrcIM
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) January 8, 2025
It was later discovered that one of the largest reservoirs, holding 117 million gallons of water, was empty having been down for maintenance since February of last year.
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