Ben Allen

Ben Allen is a Democratic state senator who was elected in 2014 and represents a district hit by the Los Angeles County fires.¹ He previously served on the Santa Monica-Malibu Board of Education.² He has chaired the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and the Budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection and Energy.³

He wants to keep insurers in the market by allowing faster rate reviews and forward-looking tools, with guardrails such as requiring them to serve high-risk communities.² He would increase staff to handle customer service and create a consumer advocate position in the department.⁴ He calls for requiring insurers to explain claim denials and to report delays and outstanding claims after a disaster.⁵ He supports restricting new construction in high-risk zones.⁶ He wants to reduce risk by bringing together insurers, builders, local governments, firefighters and the state.⁶

As a legislator, Allen authored a law restricting single-use plastics and touts writing Proposition 4, a climate bond measure approved by voters in 2024.¹ He authored Senate Bill 1209, which allows the insurance commissioner to order insurers to fix issues found during investigations without going through a lengthy legal process.⁷ He also wrote a law requiring insurers to pay 60% of a policyholder's contents coverage without a detailed inventory.⁴ Another law he authored requires insurers to provide more details when planning to drop coverage and gives homeowners time to fix the issues.⁸