In a letter to the insurer, Lara said under Proposition 103, State Farm has the burden of explaining why the rate hike is needed now — which he says the company has “not met.”

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has rejected State Farm General’s request for a rate hike averaging 22% due to the company’s “dire” financial situation after the deadly and destructive L.

California insurance regulators are demanding that State Farm answer “critical questions about its financial condition” in response to the company’s request for emergency approval of a steep rate hike for homeowners in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires.