Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., discusses the Forest Service briefing on wildfires, the Forest Repair Act returning to the House floor for a vote and President-elect Trump preparing executive orders on energy dominance.
State Farm has decided not to air a commercial during Super Bowl LIX next month.
“Our focus is firmly on supporting the people of Los Angeles,” a company spokesperson told FOX Business on Thursday. “We will not advertise during the game as originally planned.”
State Farm announced in March 2024 that it would drop coverage on 72,000 California home and condo policies over the summer. (John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images/File)
The insurance company’s decision, first reported by Ad Age, comes as Los Angeles area has been battling wildfires that have killed at least 25 people since January 7. The flames of the largest fire, the Palisades Fire, damaged or destroyed only about 5,000 buildings.
Super Bowl LIX scheduled to take place on February 9 in New Orleans. Advertising spots during the championship game are in high demand every year.
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State Farm and its agents and employees “are all focused on helping customers affected by the Southern California wildfires in the midst of this tragedy,” a State Farm spokesman said.
“The state farm serves more [than] 8 million customers in California — more than any other insurer — and we’ve been doing it for nearly 100 years,” a spokesperson told FOX Business. “Our claims service is the largest in the industry, and we bring the full scope and strength of our disaster response teams to help customers recover — whether they’re on the ground in LA or across the country.”
The insurance company has filed more than 7,850 home and auto claims and “put about $50 million back into the hands of customers” as of Thursday morning, according to a spokesman. Those numbers are expected to rise “as residents return and assess the damage.”
More than 1 million homes and 4 million vehicles are insured by State Farm in the Golden State, including 250,000 homes and 880,000 cars in Los Angeles County, according to the company.
State Farm announced in March 2024 that it would end monitoring 72,000 houses and apartments in California in the summer. The company cited inflation, regulatory costs and the increasing risk of disasters as reasons for its decision, and had previously stopped accepting new requests in the state.
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Earlier this week, the company said Los Angeles homeowners with policies “on the books” Jan. 7 affected by the wildfires would receive offers to renew policies, which slowed the “homeowner non-renewal notification process” in the areas engulfed in flames.
Three wildfires active in the Los Angeles area have been raging for more than a week. Those fires — the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires — were 22%, 55% and 98% contained, respectively, as of Thursday afternoon, according to Cal Fire. The second fire, which broke out in Ventura County on Monday, is 85% contained.
A firefighting aircraft descends on the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 7. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
This view shows the destruction of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Saturday. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images)
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Almost 38,700 hectares were burned in four fires.
Eric Revell contributed to this report.
