Satakentia liukiuensis killed by Insurance Company

[MattyB]

This will likely be the last time I'll get to post about this tremendous success story of growing Satakentia liukiuensis in California.  Unfortunately, our home owners insurance has issued us a cancellation notice unless we're able to comply with basically removing all of the palms in close proximity to my home despite all of them being healthy, well watered, and none of them carry a skirt of dead leaves; basically zero risk of catching fire.  We've searched around and no other insurance company will cover us as they're all trying desperately to exit the market.  The insurance market in CA is a disaster, but that's a story for another day.  I figured I'd post pics one last time of this palm that has yet to flower/fruit, but is thriving none the less.  It currently stands at 15' tall overall w/ 5' of clear trunk.

[DoomsDave]

Good to hear from you @MattyB!

Sorry to hear about the reason.

Sadly, this isn’t a surprise; my garden could well be next.

[Fusca]

45 minutes ago, MattyB said:

This will likely be the last time I'll get to post about this tremendous success story of growing Satakentia liukiuensis in California.

Sorry to hear this.  Any chance you can relocate the palm or are they difficult to transplant?

[Hurricanepalms]

From what I have read, they transplant well. Gotta love the insurance companies with their arbitrary policies. Sometimes they still drop you even after you comply. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

Matty, if it were my Satakentia, I’d do whatever I could to transplant it to an insurance “acceptable” place in the garden. If I had to remove all the palms in close proximity to my house, I’d be losing dozens of mature ones. By the way, I have a young Satakentia in its second year in my Bay Area garden and so far so good. 

[peachy]

Since I was ripped off by my insurance in 2011, I haven't bothered with it. When I moved house 4 years ago, even though the house is not in a flood zone, it's a recent build and no potential hazards at all, the premium they wanted was astronomical. People in Nth Qld, Nth New South Wales and flood prone areas of Brisbane are now no longer able to get insurance or pay 5 figure premiums to the couple of companies that will take them on.  Even if you comply and remove all alleged hazards around your home they will still probably find something to deny your claim. Going by the photos, your home is on a steep slope and would be susceptible to a wild fire even if there wasn't a palm for kilometres. Anyway I just needed to vent and hope you can move them safely.

Peachy

[Palm Tree Jim]

Try moving it Matty. 

At this point, what's to lose?

What about all your other palms that are close to the house according to the insurance company?

[FallbrookMike]

What a load of crap.. Did the insurance CO specify the minimum acceptable distance from the structure for palms/trees?   

[Harry’s Palms]

We are in the same boat here. I had a thread a while ago about the palm police . My insurance broker that called me last year and told me a drone was sent over my house and saw my palm collection so I was cancelled . He found someone to insure my house at a much higher rate . He told me I was lucky. Yesterday a neighbor from down the end of the street told my wife “ I don’t know how you get away with having so many palm trees around your house?” Now we have folks who are pitted against each other. Her house looks like a desert , not a plant in sight. Last year I had to trim every plant to excess just to get this new company to cover us. Then take video’s of every inch and wait to be approved. I don’t know where this will end but I fear my palm’s days are numbered. The only ones I will be able to keep will be those that are down the hill…..for now. Off topic but I am dealing with the same situation at my shop in Ventura . I have no employees , I work alone and last year my insurance (required by the building I rent) went up 58% . I will be dropped by them this year as they are no longer writing policies. The next policy will be another 100% increase! In 40 years of business I’ve never had a claim. My house …..28 years and never had a claim. Harry

[TropicalGardenSpain]

Sorry Matty, Such a beautiful palm and garden you have! can't imagine how you are feeling! I hope you can find a solution that's not so drastic 😔

[TropicalGardenSpain]

32 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

We are in the same boat here. I had a thread a while ago about the palm police . My insurance broker that called me last year and told me a drone was sent over my house and saw my palm collection so I was cancelled . He found someone to insure my house at a much higher rate . He told me I was lucky. Yesterday a neighbor from down the end of the street told my wife “ I don’t know how you get away with having so many palm trees around your house?” Now we have folks who are pitted against each other. Her house looks like a desert , not a plant in sight. Last year I had to trim every plant to excess just to get this new company to cover us. Then take video’s of every inch and wait to be approved. I don’t know where this will end but I fear my palm’s days are numbered. The only ones I will be able to keep will be those that are down the hill…..for now. Off topic but I am dealing with the same situation at my shop in Ventura . I have no employees , I work alone and last year my insurance (required by the building I rent) went up 58% . I will be dropped by them this year as they are no longer writing policies. The next policy will be another 100% increase! In 40 years of business I’ve never had a claim. My house …..28 years and never had a claim. Harry

Sorry Harry 😔🤦‍♂️

[PalmatierMeg]

What a travesty

[Billeb]

CA is a joke……yet I still live here. It’s been run into the ground. As you said @MattyB, it’s a topic for another day. 
 

Sorry about your tree, but not surprised at all unfortunately. Try to move it as others have said. @peachy is likely correct, they will always find something to deny your claim. 
 

-dale 

[happypalms]

If they tried that on my home insurance I wouldn’t have a garden. It’s basically a palm garden the whole lot 2 acres gone. I know what I would be telling them in four letter words. In my area I have to clear at least 50 meters of bush around the house away by local council standards fortunately that doesn’t include gardens. Some common sense prevails. 

[Harry’s Palms]

If we form a militia I guess we can hold them off, just kidding! Today all my palms are safe …. and today is really all we have , so enjoy it. Harry 

So now I have to decide whether to keep the palms and remove the house or…….

[happypalms]

20 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

If we form a militia I guess we can hold them off, just kidding! Today all my palms are safe …. and today is really all we have , so enjoy it. Harry 

So now I have to decide whether to keep the palms and remove the house or…….

That’s a pretty good idea move the house and keep the garden. Obviously the insurance reps don’t realise it takes 20 years to grow a half decent palm, they must have hedges of murrayas for gardens, what we need is ips board members who work in the insurance companies that will fix the problem. 

[JeffM]

That’s such a beautiful Palm.  Definitely try moving it - I’ve not seen one here in CA as beautiful as this!

[LP305]

On 2/13/2025 at 5:43 PM, MattyB said:

This will likely be the last time I'll get to post about this tremendous success story of growing Satakentia liukiuensis in California.  Unfortunately, our home owners insurance has issued us a cancellation notice unless we're able to comply with basically removing all of the palms in close proximity to my home despite all of them being healthy, well watered, and none of them carry a skirt of dead leaves; basically zero risk of catching fire.  We've searched around and no other insurance company will cover us as they're all trying desperately to exit the market.  The insurance market in CA is a disaster, but that's a story for another day.  I figured I'd post pics one last time of this palm that has yet to flower/fruit, but is thriving none the less.  It currently stands at 15' tall overall w/ 5' of clear trunk.

You need to move to Miami.

[sonoranfans]

Very sad, landscapes all over there will be changed for the worse.  when insurance companies pull out of your state, those that remain have a lot of power.  They seem to be all powered up in CA.  Seems like a palm worth saving, satatkentias are rare in CA.

[Kim]

My heart breaks for you! That is a stellar Satakentia, not even taking into account the rarity of growing one in California. 💔

I have read too many times that people have removed the palms and been canceled afterward anyway. Makes no sense.

My California palms are a few Howea and P. roebelenii, plus one Rhapis hybrid.. I just bought a slender Coccothrinax to put in a spot where I removed a giant BOP. If I were to remove my palms I would have basically nothing in the the garden at all, and it would make zero difference, because the houses are so tight together here; all vintage builds, virtually none to current codes. Miraculously, my home insurance has not gone up at all. Ssshhh! 🤫 🤐 Don't tell anyone or the insurance company might change their minds!

[ASHCVS]

This is absolutely excruciating @MattyB

[Tracy]

On 2/13/2025 at 2:43 PM, MattyB said:

This will likely be the last time I'll get to post about this tremendous success story of growing Satakentia liukiuensis in California.  Unfortunately, our home owners insurance has issued us a cancellation notice unless we're able to comply with basically removing all of the palms in close proximity to my home despite all of them being healthy, well watered, and none of them carry a skirt of dead leaves; basically zero risk of catching fire.  We've searched around and no other insurance company will cover us as they're all trying desperately to exit the market.  The insurance market in CA is a disaster, but that's a story for another day.  I figured I'd post pics one last time of this palm that has yet to flower/fruit, but is thriving none the less.  It currently stands at 15' tall overall w/ 5' of clear trunk.

Matty keep us posted if you transplant it on how it performs. It appears you will have to move plenty of other palms, too.  As  I read about more Californians facing similar situations I can't help wondering when it will stop.  I recently read that a state agency is due to release new fire risk maps which are modeled differently from those used by insurers.  These maps which are periodically updated are more for planning resources for fighting fires.

Much like Kim in Point Loma, housing density is pretty high here and only getting more dense due to zoning updates to increase housing availability.   If fire gets loose here, homes will burn hotter and be the primary source for fire spread.  Removing plantings would do little when fires spread from house to house like in Altadena.

I just hope the insurance company gives you a reasonable setback and doesn't continually up the ante.  Only time will tell.

[Darold Petty]

A friend has a rental property in Grover Beach.  His insurance carrier flew a drone over his property and announced it was canceling his policy since he had "too much vegetation close to the structure".  He is selling the property. 

[DoomsDave]

11 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

A friend has a rental property in Grover Beach.  His insurance carrier flew a drone over his property and announced it was canceling his policy since he had "too much vegetation close to the structure".  He is selling the property. 

Hopefully for oodles of moolah.

 

[Hilo Jason]

So sorry to hear this Matty.  It was always exciting to see you posting about this palm here on Palm Talk over the years.  And it inspired me to plant one in my Fallbrook garden back in the day.
 

 It’s just horrible how the insurance companies are handling California now. 

[Harry’s Palms]

The removal of palms will make little , if any difference. I am safe for about a year , I think . After that ….who knows . I think where we will be OK but who knows . I have a fire hydrant right out across the street from our house . When I was taking video to send to the new insurance company , I highlighted the hydrant . I was approved. My broker told me I would have to remove all the palms to get insurance , but I cheated by trimming them and using the angle of the camera on my phone when I shot the video’s. It took about 4-5 hours to complete the video application . I don’t know how @MattyB would be able to pull that off. I noticed the home appears to be right next to open space with dry shrubs around which is the real threat , not the palm. Harry

[Cindy Adair]

I am so sorry to hear about the terrible situation you are in!
 

 I recall many PT posts years ago when you were just beginning planting. The results have been truly inspirational. 

I honestly don’t understand how I can still buy reasonably priced insurance in very hurricane prone Puerto Rico yet so many in the States can not. Perhaps buried in the fine print of the PR policies are words that would make claims denied. 

 

I wish some sort of smoke detector that would trigger water application could be used around the exterior of dwellings as is routine for the interior of many businesses. 

 

 

[Josue Diaz]

don't do it Matt! so sad it's come to this. For what it's worth, this is likely the ideal time to try moving it - or will be in the next month or so when we warm up a bit. That's if you decide to move it. 

I am dreading the day I get a notice like that - I wonder if PGE will ever bury those dam wires instead of crisscrossing over and through everyone's backyards. Unlikely.