SACRAMENTO, California: California's most prominent private insurance company, State Farm, has asked state regulators to approve an emergency rate increase after suffering massive losses from wildfires in Los Angeles this January.

The company wants to raise rates by up to 22 percent for homeowners who don't live in their properties, 15 percent for renters and condo owners, and 38 percent for rental properties.

The state's insurance regulator will review the request, a spokesperson told Reuters.

State Farm currently insures 250,000 homes and 880,000 cars in Los Angeles County. Across California, it insures over a million homes and four million cars, taking on billions of dollars in financial risk.

In recent years, frequent wildfires have forced many insurers to leave California, pushing homeowners to use a much more expensive state-run insurance program. The January wildfires killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed over 16,000 buildings.

State Farm said in its filing that it urgently needs approval for higher rates to prevent a crisis for its customers and California's insurance market.

As of February 1, the company had received more than 8,700 claims and already paid out over US$1 billion.

State Farm reported that from 2015 to 2024, it paid $1.26 in claims and expenses for every $1.00 collected in premiums, leading to more than $5 billion in losses. Its after-tax net loss during this period was $2.8 billion.

A spokesperson for the insurance regulator said the department will carefully review the rate request to ensure Californians are charged fair and justified prices. The spokesperson also said State Farm's financial filings raise serious concerns about the company's stability.