California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara decided Friday to provisionally grant State Farm General's request for a 22% hike in its homeowner insurance rates pending a formal rate hearing next month.

California’s insurance commissioner said his approval was conditioned on State Farm justifying its need for the increase by bringing data to a public hearing on April 8.

California's top insurance regulator says he will approve an emergency request from State Farm to raise home insurance rates for roughly a million customers if the company can justify the hike at a public hearing.