State Farm General wants to dramatically increase home insurance premiums for millions of Californians, a move that would exacerbate the state's ongoing home insurance crisis.

In two filings with the state Department of Insurance on Thursday that indicate financial difficulties at the insurance giant, State Farm said it is seeking premium increases of 30% for homeowners, 36% for apartment owners and 52% for renters.

“State Farm General's recent rate filings raise serious questions about its financial condition,” California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a statement. “This could impact millions of California consumers and the integrity of our homeowners insurance market.”

State Farm did not respond to requests for comment.

Lara noted that the requests do not immediately change anything for policyholders. He said his department will use all of its “investigative tools to get to the bottom of State Farm's financial situation,” including a rate hearing if necessary, before making a decision on whether to grant the requests.

That process could take months: The department takes an average of 180 days to complete its reviews, and complex cases can take even longer, a department spokesman said.

The department has already approved State Farm's recent requests for significant increases in homeowners insurance premiums, including a 6.9% increase in January 2023 and a 20% increase that took effect in March.

State Farm is planning to dramatically increase home insurance premiums, taking advantage of a little-known and rarely used exception to the state's usual formula for setting insurance premiums. Normally, such a move is a sign that an insurer is facing serious financial problems.

In one of the documents, State Farm General explained that the purpose of the request was to restore the company's financial position. “If the deviation is denied,” the insurer wrote, “further deterioration of the surplus is expected.”

California is facing an insurance crisis as climate change and extreme weather contribute to devastating fires that have destroyed thousands of homes in recent years.

In March, State Farm announced that it would not renew 72,000 property owner contracts nationwide, joining Farmers, Allstate and other companies that are either not issuing new policies, limiting them or tightening insurance underwriting standards.

The companies blamed the fallout on wildfires, inflation that drove up reconstruction costs, higher prices for reinsurance that they buy to bolster their balance sheets and protect against disasters, and outdated government regulations – claims disputed by some consumer advocates.

While insurers have retreated from the homeownership market, lawmakers in Sacramento are working to make insurance coverage available and affordable for residents of high-risk areas.

Times writer Laurence Darmiento contributed to this report.