Map: See where California FAIR Plan seeks home insurance rate hikes

"The FAIR Plan, California's last-resort insurance program for homeowners needing fire coverage, is seeking approval for steep rate hikes averaging 35.8%, though some policyholders could actually see their premiums drop. Under the proposal, sent to state regulators Sept. 29, insurance costs would increase for about four in five of the plan's more than 550,000 homeowner policies across California. The large majority of rate hikes would range from 5% to 60%."

"The FAIR Plan is a state-created, privately run high-risk insurance pool required to offer coverage to property owners who've been dropped by their providers or are unable to find coverage elsewhere. The plan often costs two or three times as much as a traditional policy and only offers basic fire protection, meaning homeowners generally need to purchase additional insurance. In a statement, the FAIR Plan said the overall rate increase is necessary to offset the increasing risk of climate-driven wildfires."

"As insurers have ended coverage for hundreds of thousands of homeowners in recent years amid worsening wildfire seasons, the number of residential FAIR Plan policies has more than doubled to 590,642 as of June, according to the plan. The FAIR Plan calculated its rate hike request using new guidelines approved by the California Department of Insurance late last year, which allow insurers to set premiums based on the growing threat of climate change."

The FAIR Plan, California's last-resort insurance program for homeowners needing fire coverage, proposed rate increases averaging 35.8% with some premiums decreasing for certain policyholders. The proposal, sent to state regulators Sept. 29, would raise costs for roughly four in five of the plan's more than 550,000 homeowner policies, with most hikes ranging 5% to 60%; about 97,000 policyholders would see reductions, typically no more than 50%. If approved by the state insurance department, changes could take effect April 1, 2026. The FAIR Plan attributes the overall increase to rising climate-driven wildfire risk and used new Department of Insurance guidelines to calculate the request.

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