Thursday newspaper round-up: Solar panels, OBR, Chevron

(Sharecast News) - California's home-insurance safety net does not have enough money to pay all of the claims from damage caused by the Los Angeles wildfires and has asked private insurers to contribute $1bn toward those claims. All private insurers operating in California are required to contribute to the Fair plan, a plan of last resort established so all Californians would have access to fire insurance. More than 450,000 California homeowners got their insurance through the Fair plan in 2024 - more than double the number in 2020. As of 4 February, the plan had received more than 4,700 claims from the Palisades and Eaton fires, almost half of which were for "total losses". - Guardian Poorer households could cut their energy bills by a quarter if solar panels were installed on their rooftops, a report has found. However, the upfront costs mean that those who stand to benefit most from decreased energy bills are prevented from getting panels installed, according to the Resolution Foundation thinktank. - Guardian

Rachel Reeves has been warned not to hammer businesses with higher taxes after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) told the Chancellor she was now at risk of breaking her fiscal rules. Rupert Soames, chairman of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), warned the Chancellor that another raid on the private sector to fix the public finances would create more problems by damaging business investment. - Telegraph

The majority of rich people who backed Labour at the election now regret it, according to a new poll. Two thirds of high net worth individuals (HNWI) who voted for Sir Keir Starmer's party last July now wish they hadn't, a survey from wealth manager Saltus has found. Policies that have shattered faith in Labour include changes to inheritance tax, the addition of VAT - at 20pc - to private school fees and an increase in employers' National Insurance contributions, which has pushed up staffing costs for business owners. - Telegraph

Chevron Corporation, the US oil giant, will make up to 8,000 employees redundant by the end of 2026 to cut costs. The oil producer said it will cut between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of jobs from its global workforce. At the end of 2023, Chevron employed 40,212 people across its operations so 20 per cent would be about 8,000. Those figures do not include about 5,400 employees of Chevron service stations. - The Times