SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two lawsuits filed in Los Angeles allege major home insurance companies have colluded to limit coverage in California communities at high risk for wildfires and force homeowners onto the state’s last-resort insurance plan that offers basic coverage and high premiums.

Insurers, including State Farm and 24 others that hold 75% of California’s home insurance market, were part of an “illegal scheme” in violation of California’s antitrust and unfair competition laws, according to one of the lawsuits, filed last week.

The lawsuit said the companies worked together in 2023 to “suddenly and simultaneously” drop coverage or halt writing new policies in fire-prone areas, including in neighborhoods leveled in the January wildfires. — Associated Press