California P&C Market Watch: Wildfire Rules, Coverage Moves, and Rating Updates

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara ordered insurers to preserve residential property coverage for more than 64,000 affected policyholders after the Gann Fire emergency declaration. The bulletin also extends certain commercial property protections in the impacted ZIP codes for the first time under SB 547.

A California agency approved long-awaited wildfire-related home protection regulations, though the standards are less strict than those recommended by scientists and firefighters. The move is likely to shape underwriting and mitigation expectations for carriers writing homeowners business in high-risk areas.

Travelers expanded its product liability offering, Travelers Synergy, to California, giving life sciences companies access to coverage for product-related claims across the full development cycle. The rollout broadens a nationwide product designed to address bodily injury and property damage exposures for complex specialty risks.

AM Best upgraded the Financial Strength Rating of California Casualty Indemnity Exchange to B+ from B and raised the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of related entities to bbb- from bb+. The upgrade signals improved financial strength for the California-based P&C group and may support market confidence among agents and insureds.

Insurance Journal’s 2026 Top 100 Property/Casualty Agencies report highlights multiple major California-based firms, including Irvine- and Anaheim-based operations near the top of the list. The rankings underscore the state’s outsized role in national P&C distribution and agency consolidation.