Stacy Korsgaden

Candidate Response - 6 of 8

This article is part of a multi-part series introducing candidates who are running for the position of insurance commissioner in California. Eight candidates responded to three questions posed by Journalist Don Jergler.

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Republican Stacy A. Korsgaden is an insurance agent.

Korsgaden has held an active California Insurance license since 1988, and built a full-service insurance agency, servicing nearly 8,000 policies.

She plans to restore competition and bring insurers back to California, expand product availability, change the culture of the Department of Insurance to be service focused and crack down on fraud.

Q: How do you feel about the direction of the state’s insurance market?

Korsgaden: California’s insurance crisis is like nothing we have ever seen in this state. For nearly 40 years, I have helped individuals, families, and small businesses protect what matters most. Today we are facing an all‑systems failure to serve the market because of suffocating regulation and rigid price controls that punish success and drive insurers out.

“Today we are facing an all‑systems failure to serve the market because of suffocating regulation and rigid price controls that punish success and drive insurers out.”

Stacy Korsgaden

Another major factor is the refusal of state leaders to aggressively mitigate fire risk and to crack down on crime. These choices, combined with the policies of the Department of Insurance, have made California hostile to insurance companies and left ordinary Californians paying the price

Q: What changes will you make if you are elected to the insurance commissioner post that our readers should know about?

Korsgaden: I plan to:

1. Conduct a comprehensive audit of the California Department of Insurance to restore transparency, accountability and public trust in how the agency is managed and how decisions are made.
2. Establish a new business division within the Department of Insurance dedicated to helping new and innovative insurance companies enter the California market, so we can fast-track responsible product approvals and expand consumer choice.
3. Work with California’s political, community, and industry leaders to aggressively mitigate wildfire, crime and other catastrophe risks, so that homes and businesses remain insurable and insurance stays available and affordable across the state.

Q: What separates you from the other candidates in the race?

Korsgaden: I am a nationally recognized insurance subject matter expert running for California Insurance Commissioner. I have held an active California Insurance license (#0750748) since 1988, and for more than 37 years I have helped families and small businesses navigate complex insurance policies, devastating losses, and an increasingly broken regulatory system.

Insurance is not theoretical to me, it is personal. I have built my career one client at a time through annual reviews, difficult claims, wildfire losses, and the long process of helping people rebuild their lives and livelihoods. I have navigated the marketplace and worked directly with regulators, experience no other candidate can match. I built a full-service insurance agency from the ground up, servicing nearly 8,000 policies and earning top national recognition for excellence in underwriting, production, and client service.

Compiled by Don Jergler, West Coast Editor of Insurance Journal