Overview
- The California Department of Insurance approved an average residential increase of roughly 29–30 percent that takes effect Oct. 15, 2026, with the new premium shown at each policyholder’s first renewal after that date.
- The change will hit homeowners in high wildfire-risk areas hardest, with about half of policyholders facing 30–50 percent hikes, roughly a quarter seeing their premiums fall in some cases by large amounts, and the rest facing smaller or much larger changes.
- Officials say the FAIR Plan sought higher rates after paying billions for the 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires and running down its reserves, triggering a state law that required private insurers to cover a $1 billion shortfall that is being partially passed to customers.
- State reforms called the Sustainable Insurance Strategy let insurers use forward-looking wildfire models and pass some reinsurance costs to buyers, a change regulators credited with reducing the FAIR Plan’s requested increase and helping private carriers begin to re-enter some markets.
- Local impacts will be steep in some places — examples include Grizzly Flats and Orinda — and lawmakers and regulators are pursuing FAIR Plan changes and mitigation incentives such as home-hardening discounts to help homeowners lower costs or move back to private policies.