Daily California P&C Insurance News Roundup

A year after the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, many homeowners remain displaced as they battle slow claims handling, coverage disputes, and underinsurance issues. The article highlights growing pressure on insurers and state leaders to tighten claims standards and improve disaster recovery protections for California policyholders.

The Disaster Recovery Reform Act (SB 876) would mandate that insurers file disaster recovery plans, expand additional living expense limits, and double penalties for unfair claims practices during declared emergencies. Lawmakers say the bill responds directly to wildfire survivors’ complaints, aiming to speed up payments and strengthen consumer protections across California’s property market.

California home insurance premiums are projected to climb roughly 20% or more between 2023 and the end of 2025, driven by reinsurance costs, catastrophe modeling changes, and recent extreme weather. The piece explains how record-wet months in Southern California may influence future pricing, underwriting, and availability, particularly in high-risk flood and mudslide zones.

Farmers Insurance plans to lift its cap of 9,500 new homeowners policies per month in California while implementing a new rating plan with an average 6.99% statewide rate increase. The carrier signals renewed commitment to distressed areas by targeting about 300,000 consumers in early 2026, offering expanded capacity alongside updated pricing and bundling incentives.

A California state agency has acknowledged it will not meet Governor Gavin Newsom’s year-end deadline to finalize wildfire home hardening regulations intended to guide mitigation and underwriting. The delay prolongs uncertainty for insurers and homeowners who are looking to these rules to help stabilize availability and pricing in wildfire-exposed communities.