"SFG needs your urgent assistance in the form of emergency interim approval of additional rate to help avert a dire situation for our customers and the insurance market in the state of California," State Farm said in a filing to the regulator.

State Farm, the largest home insurer in California, is asking for an emergency rate hike from state regulators as it warns that multibillion-dollar payouts from the Los Angeles wildfires threaten its balance sheet and the broader insurance market.

Citing what it calls a potentially “dire situation,” State Farm asked California for permission to hike insurance rates by an average of 22%.