As your Assemblymember, I've heard from, met with, and spoken directly with many of you about homeowners insurance availability and your experiences in the insurance marketplace. If you are a California resident who received a non-renewal notice from your insurance company, you have options.
Please continue reading to learn more about the work being done by the Insurance Commissioner, as well as some options that are available to you to find coverage.
My Legislative Action on Insurance Reform
I've introduced a bill this legislative session, AB 290, FAIR Plan Auto Payments, which has advanced out of the Assembly Insurance Committee. This measure would modernize California's last-resort fire insurance program to better protect consumers.
As wildfires grow more frequent and private insurers pull out of high-risk areas, the FAIR Plan has become the only option for many homeowners—now serving over 573,000 policies and receiving a thousand new applications each day. Despite this surge, the program still doesn't offer automatic payments, putting families at risk of losing coverage over a missed check.
AB 290 aims to give homeowners a simple, reliable way to stay covered through automatic payment options.
The bill also includes a grace period provision, giving policyholders time to resolve payment issues and avoid unintended lapses.
Current Insurance Industry Reforms
The Insurance Commissioner is using his authority to address the most important issues that have caused insurers to pull out of our state and issue non-renewal notices. These reforms include streamlining rate approval processes and allowing insurers to use forward-looking catastrophe modeling in their ratemaking.
With these and other reforms enacted, insurance companies have committed to transitioning homeowners and businesses from the FAIR plan back into the normal insurance market, covering all of California. Companies must also commit to writing no less than 85% of their statewide business in high-risk communities in exchange for the rate increases they will be allowed.
These reforms are designed to result in more reliable rates, greater availability of insurance products, stronger regulatory oversight, and, most importantly, safer communities.
Helpful Tips for Navigating the Insurance Market
Here are some helpful tips to navigate the current homeowners insurance market:
- Find a licensed agent or broker through the California Department of Insurance's Home Insurance Finder tool
- Contact your insurer and ask if there are any specific actions you could take to mitigate your risk and retain your coverage
- File a complaint with the California Department of Insurance if you feel the non-renewal notice is unfair
- Shop for a new homeowners' policy by searching the California Department of Insurance home insurance finder tool
- Use the homeowner's insurance comparison tool to compare policies from different insurers
- Learn about Difference in Conditions (DIC) policies
- The California FAIR Plan is available to every homeowner as a last option. The maximum limit on a property for all coverages combined is $3,000,000.
If none of the options above work for you, you may try to obtain coverage in the surplus lines market. Ask your broker or retain agent if they are able to obtain coverage with a surplus lines insurer.
Important Notice Regarding Non-Renewals
In California, an insurer must notify policyholders at minimum 75 days before a policy expires. If your insurer did not provide 75 days' notice, contact the California Department of Insurance at 1-800-927-HELP or visit insurance.ca.gov.
