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I'm sure most of you have heard some scuttlebutt about our states poor state of home insurance by now. If not, consider yourself lucky, for that means you live outside of a moderate to high fire severity zone, and for that reason your carrier hasn't dropped you. Unfortunately for a ton of Humboldt County residents, they were dropped like a sack of potatoes. At which point you start searching for a new carrier, only to find that the majority of insurance companies you've heard of, have already pulled out of the state! After a fortnight of searching you finally find someone who will cover you, just to find out that they'll only cover you if you get a supplemental fire coverage from California Fair Plan.
In most instances this new set up (home & supplemental fire) can typically cost three times as much as your previous plan. The California Fair Plan was created specifically to fill this fire coverage void, and for most, is the only option available. For more information on the details of the California Fair Plan, you can visit their website here - https://www.cfpnet.com/
From what I understand, the state is scrambling (maybe not quickly enough) to figure out some solutions to this convoluted issue. A big first step is to get all of the insurance companies and our state to use the same mapping system. Currently each entity has their own mapping system, so as you can imagine there are regular disagreements stemming from that issue alone. Next they need to incentivize new competitors to enter the market The ultimate goal is to have enough cost effective options for residents that the California Fair Plan is no longer needed. I don't think we'll reach that point anytime soon, but I do think we will get there one day.
For more detailed information you can always visit California's Department of Insurance at their website here - https://www.insurance.ca.gov/ Once there you can always file a complaint regarding the current issues were facing which could help to fuel the change were all hoping for.
The map below is the most up to date fire severity zone mapping available, but a new map is being release on 4/1/24. You can access this map on the CalFire website below https://osfm.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/community-wildfire-preparedness-and-mitigation/fire-hazard-severity-zones
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