The Current State of Insurance for California Homeowners

Nearly half a million California homeowners had their property coverage nonrenewed in 2019 and 2020, according to data from the California Department of Insurance. Many more people had to find other carriers or go to the state’s FAIR Plan in both 2019 and 2020 than between 2015 and 2020. I would assume this trend has continued or increased in 2021 and 2022.

 Of the 212,727 people who were nonrenewed in 2020, 77,000 of them had to accept coverage from the FAIR Plan, which was more than three times the total in 2018. This clearly shows the impact of massive fires around the state in 2018.

 The FAIR Plan isn’t only more expensive, but to get full coverage, you’ll need to purchase a second policy called a Difference in Condition (DIC) policy. This policy has to be purchased through a primary insurance company. The whole process is confusing for both homeowners and insurance agents.

 As the data shows, FAIR Plan policies are unfortunately becoming more common for all areas of Mono County and other areas in California facing wildfire concern. The majority of insurance companies will not quote new clients in Mono County. We currently don’t have an admitted insurance carrier willing to write insurance in all of Inyo or Mono Counties. Major insurance carriers like Travelers, Safeco, Nationwide, Guard, and Progressive decline the majority of submissions in Mono County.

 We always advocate for our clients to get them reasonable home insurance whenever possible and keep them out of the FAIR Plan. If you need help figuring out how to get insured, contact us – we try to work with surplus lines companies to find a better solution than the FAIR Plan when possible.

 I also encourage everyone to contact the California Department of Insurance to let them know you’re displeased with the insurance situation in California. You can call them at (800) 927-4357. You can also consider voting for a candidate other than incumbent Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. Let us know if you have any questions.