P&C Insurance Daily News

California’s new “Eliminate The List” Act (SB 495) allows disaster survivors to receive 60% of contents coverage limits (capped at $350,000) without submitting detailed inventories of lost belongings. The law also includes the Safe Homes Grant Program to help homeowners fund fire-resistant improvements and extends one-year non-renewal protections to businesses and nonprofits alongside other consumer safeguards.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Assemblymember Lisa Calderon introduced the Make It FAIR Act (AB 1680) to address 17 areas of non-compliance in financial condition, governance, and consumer protections identified by the Department of Insurance. The legislation aims to strengthen claims handling, expand comprehensive homeowners coverage, improve transparency, and assist wildfire survivors returning to the regular insurance market.

California homeowners are facing projected premium increases of roughly 20% or more between 2023 and the end of 2025, with major carriers requesting increases of 30% or more due to wildfire losses, reinsurance costs, and capital strain. Regulatory changes now allow insurers to use forward-looking catastrophe models and pass reinsurance costs through to premiums, while wet weather conditions are likely to reinforce risk models for flood and mudslide exposures.

One year after the January 2025 wildfires, California fire survivors continue to battle insurers over delayed claims, denials, and lowballed damage estimates, prompting legislative action. The new state law allows fire victims to receive up to $350,000 or 60% of personal property coverage upfront without requiring itemized lists of destroyed belongings.

California is showing early signs of improvement in its wildfire insurance crisis, with insurers like Farmers using advanced technology to underwrite 30,000 additional homes and carriers offering discounts for fire-resilient features and defensible space improvements. Commissioner Lara prohibited non-renewals for 210,000 homeowners in fire-affected areas while CSAA, State Farm, and others implement discounts alongside pending rate increases to expand coverage availability.