Insurance — Coverage & the FAIR Plan

California FAIR Plan

The state's insurer of last resort

The fallback when private carriers won't write you. It now insures a large share of homes in high-fire Palisades zones (about 1,430 policies in 90272 before the fire, and rising fast since). Important: it's fire coverage only and limited — most homeowners pair it with a "DIC wrap" (a Difference-in-Conditions policy that fills the gaps the FAIR Plan leaves — liability, theft, water damage). Residential dwelling limit is now $3 million. Rates are going up: the Department of Insurance has approved an average 29.1% FAIR Plan rate increase effective October 15, 2026 (the plan had asked for 35.8%; the approval was announced August 11); homes in the highest-risk zones can see considerably more than the average. Also on the Governor's desk: the "Make It FAIR Act" (AB 1680), which would tighten oversight of the plan's board — see the legislation note below.

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Carriers most likely to write new policies

Via California's Sustainable Insurance Strategy (SIS)

The state is coaxing carriers back by letting them price wildfire risk in exchange for writing in high-risk areas. As of mid-2026, the names most likely to take new applications:

• Mercury and CSAA — writing under SIS
• Travelers — committed to expand CA availability (first top-10 carrier to re-commit since the fires)
• Farmers — lifted its cap on new California home policies in late 2025
• Allstate — has talked about re-entry but was still not writing new policies as of September 2026; confirm a filed-and-approved rate
• State Farm General & most majors — generally not writing new business (State Farm's 17% interim rate, in effect since June 1, 2025, was made final by a settlement the Commissioner approved July 23, 2026 — it also bars block non-renewals through 2026; in May the Department cited the company for 398 claims-handling violations in LA-fire claims)

High-value homes: FAIR Plan + DIC wrap

The standard structure in the Palisades

For higher-value Palisades, Malibu and Hidden Hills properties, the common setup is a FAIR Plan policy for fire plus a DIC wrap for everything else — arranged through an independent or surplus-lines broker who can access markets the public can't.

The Honest Math: Claims After a Total Loss

What neighbors are actually experiencing — and the rights that protect you

• Most people are underinsured — because of the insurance company's own estimate programs. Your Coverage A limit was typically set by the carrier's replacement-cost software when you bought the policy, and your claim is priced by the adjuster's estimating program (usually Xactimate) — and both badly lag real Palisades rebuild costs. After past California fires, roughly two-thirds of survivors found themselves underinsured. If your limits came from the company's estimate, say so in writing — a carrier-generated lowball estimate is grounds for a Department of Insurance complaint and, in some cases, recovery above policy limits. It is not your failure; it was their math.
• Adjusters are a wild card. Same fire, same street, wildly different outcomes: some neighbors were paid contents in full with no questions; others faced demands for room-by-room inventories and receipts for personal items. If you drew a hard adjuster, don't assume that's the rule — it's the adjuster, and the rights below are your floor. You can also request a different adjuster, in writing.
• You do not need receipts to get paid a contents floor. California law (Insurance Code §10103.7, as it stood when the 2025 claims were filed) requires insurers, after a declared-disaster total loss, to pay at least 30% of your contents limit (up to $250,000) with no inventory at all. The Insurance Commissioner publicly urged carriers to pay these fires' claims in full without itemization — many did. (The "Eliminate The List" Act, SB 495, rewrote that section: the no-inventory floor is now 60%, up to $350,000, mandatory for policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2026 — so check your renewal date; it doesn't rewrite a 2025 claim.) Itemization is only about recovering above the floor.
• Your temporary-housing money has a long clock. Declared-disaster ALE (loss of use) runs a minimum of 24 months, with extensions to 36 months for delays beyond your control — permit queues qualify. Other policy provisions and limits still apply; the time allowance does not create unlimited benefits. Further six-month extensions are available for good cause under Insurance Code §2060.
• You can take the money and build elsewhere. Under Insurance Code §2051.5, you're entitled to full replacement-cost benefits even if you rebuild at a different location or buy an existing home instead. An insurer cannot dock you for not rebuilding on the same lot.
• Put everything in writing, and escalate. Every promise, every denial, every adjuster change — email, not phone. When you hit a wall, the Department of Insurance hotline below (800-927-4357) opens a formal complaint that carriers must answer, and United Policyholders (below) has survivor-to-survivor claims guidance that has been through every one of these fights.

California Department of Insurance

Find coverage · file complaints · non-renewal help

The state regulator. Use it to find carriers still writing, get help with a non-renewal, or file a complaint against an insurer.

☎ Consumer Hotline 800-927-4357

United Policyholders

Nonprofit claims advocacy

Free guidance for survivors on filing claims, fighting underinsurance, and resolving disputes — widely used by LA fire survivors. Upcoming Zoom events include a California home-insurance shopping-help webinar on October 6 at noon Pacific and a Survivor-to-Survivor forum for wildfire survivors on October 20 at 7 p.m. Pacific.

2026 wildfire-insurance legislation: signed and pending

Official bill records checked September 17, 2026

The Smoke Damage Recovery Act, AB 1795, was signed September 15 (Chapter 240). Its companion contamination-standards bill, AB 1642, was signed the same day (Chapter 239). Both are non-urgency laws, with the ordinary January 1, 2027 effective date. The remaining bills below still await action:

• AB 1680 — Make It FAIR Act: tighter oversight of the FAIR Plan's board and a duty to carry out the Commissioner's recommendations.
• SB 876: doubles penalties for claims-handling violations during a declared emergency, with restitution paid directly to policyholders, and limits delays from adjuster reassignments.
• SB 878: actual-cash-value payment on a total loss within 30 days, with interest for delays.

AB 1680 was presented to the Governor September 14; SB 876 and SB 878 were presented September 9. No signed chapter is recorded for those three as of this check. SB 492, the utility-liability and survivor-compensation proposal, remains listed in the Assembly with its last recorded action August 30. Pending proposals are not current benefits.

For smoke-damage claimants: AB 1795 adds testing, remediation and claims-handling rules. Its new §2060.2 applies to claims occurring on or after that section's operative date, and its ALE provision remains subject to the policy limit. Do not assume these changes automatically rewrite a January 2025 claim. Ask the Department of Insurance or your adviser which provisions apply to your loss.