State Farm executive fired over comments on premium hikes after California wildfires
State Farm said the fired executive had no involvement in rate hike requests
Insurance is the main reason 70% of Pacific Palisades residents won’t return: Josh Altman
An executive for insurance giant State Farm was fired this week after he was recorded on an undercover video making comments about the insurer’s premium increases in response to Southern California wildfires.
Haden Kirkpatrick, who worked as State Farm’s vice president for innovation and venture capital, was surreptitiously recorded on a video published by O’Keefe Media Group. The Los Angeles Times reported that he claims he was fired over the recording.
“Our people look at this and say, ‘S—, 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,'” Kirkpatrick said.
He also said “there never should be houses built in the first place” in areas like the Pacific Palisades because of the fire risk, saying that residents want “natural areas around them for the ego” but that the area is a “f—ing desert, and so it dries out and it’s a tinderbox.”
STATE FARM ASKS CALIFORNIA TO APPROVE RATE HIKES AFTER WILDFIRE
A State Farm executive was fired over comments he made about rate hikes on an undercover recording.
Kirkpatrick told the Times that he was fired by the company for the remarks that he explained were recorded during a Tinder date in January that he believes was a setup, but otherwise declined to comment to the outlet.
State Farm told FOX Business, “Any characterization of State Farm General’s communications in connection with our rate request as ‘manipulation’ of the rate process or of the public is false. This person was never involved in or had any responsibility for business decisions related to State Farm General or its California operations, including anything to do with our pending rate applications or the emergency interim rate request.”
“As we have shared publicly regarding his comments: ‘These assertions are inaccurate and in no way represent the views of State Farm. They 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,’” the statement continued.