Sacramento will nickel and dime you to death. If someone in the Palisades or Altadena used the FAIR PLAN for homeowner coverage, YOU will pay for part of their coverage.
“The California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements — otherwise known as the Fair Plan — requested the $1 billion assessment after it exhausted its coffers to cover one of the most expensive wildfire disasters in modern history. And now, the devastation isn’t just hitting those who lived in the fire zones, it’s digging into Californians all over the state.
Under this arrangement, private insurers are permitted to recoup half of the assessment costs by imposing a temporary surcharge on their policyholders, translating to an approximate $60 fee per customer. This marks the first such assessment in over three decades, reflecting the escalating challenges insurers face amid increasing wildfire risks in California.”
Now you know why people are fleeing California. Even if you do the right thing, your taxes will go up to finance the fraud, incompetence and corruption of government. It will get worse—The government just approved a 22% raise for State Farm insurance holders.
CA Homeowners To Be Hit With New Fee
A decision approved recently by the California Department of Insurance could cost nearly 8 million CA homeowners a one-time fee.
Kat Schuster, Patch Staff, 3/17/25 https://patch.com/california/across-ca/are-you-insured-homeowner-ca-move-just-hurt-your-wallet
CALIFORNIA — Homeowners across California may soon feel the impact of a major financial decision made by state regulators last month. The state’s last-resort insurer, which provides coverage for those unable to secure policies on the private market, received a massive cash injection from private insurers to help cover an overwhelming number of wildfire claims in Southern California.
The California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements — otherwise known as the Fair Plan — requested the $1 billion assessment after it exhausted its coffers to cover one of the most expensive wildfire disasters in modern history. And now, the devastation isn’t just hitting those who lived in the fire zones, it’s digging into Californians all over the state.
Under this arrangement, private insurers are permitted to recoup half of the assessment costs by imposing a temporary surcharge on their policyholders, translating to an approximate $60 fee per customer. This marks the first such assessment in over three decades, reflecting the escalating challenges insurers face amid increasing wildfire risks in California.
This move aims to stabilize the insurance market and help those affected by the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires — but it could also spur temporary higher costs for homeowners.
“Wildfire survivors can’t cash ‘what ifs’ to pay for food and rent, but they can cash FAIR Plan checks,” said California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara.
The last time FAIR Plan assessments were issued was after the 1993 Kinneloa Fire in Altadena and the Old Topanga Fire in Malibu and Topanga — blazes that devastated some of the same areas impacted by this year’s wildfires. Those fires claimed three lives and destroyed nearly 550 structures. At the time, state insurance commissioners approved $260 million in assessments, including additional funds for fires sparked by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
As California recovers from yet another pair of record-breaking wildfires, the growing threat of future neighborhood-level blazes is deepening homeowner anxieties and further straining the state’s already fragile insurance market.
“The fact that we are once again facing this issue 30 years after wildfires devastated these same communities highlights the need for change,” Lara said. “Thirty years of stagnant regulations have placed more people at risk.”
Lara has emphasized the urgency of addressing the state’s escalating wildfire risks and their impact on the insurance market. In a recent statement, he highlighted the necessity of modernizing the FAIR Plan to ensure its financial stability and continued support for homeowners unable to secure private insurance.
State legislators are also actively seeking solutions to the insurance crisis. Proposed measures include increasing oversight of the FAIR Plan and offering tax incentives to alleviate premium costs for homeowners. These legislative efforts aim to bolster the resilience of California’s insurance framework against the growing threats posed by climate-induced disasters.
The recent wildfires have intensified discussions among policymakers about the necessity for comprehensive reforms to stabilize the insurance market and protect homeowners statewide.
Assemblymember David Tangipa, who represents the Nevada and Eastern Sierra regions, wrote in an opinion piece for the Fresno Bee Friday on the subject.
“The FAIR Plan has exhausted its cash reserves covering billions of dollars in claims from just two fires — the Palisades and Eaton Fires. But this isn’t just a financial burden for insurance companies, it’s a cost that will trickle down to every homeowner in California,” he wrote.
Tangipa said he believes the solution lies in prevention, not reaction.
“The reality is that we know fires are going to happen. The conditions that make California so fire-prone — namely, droughts and high temperatures — aren’t changing anytime soon. What can change is how we prepare,” Tangipa said.
Vegetation and forest management and home hardening initiatives are efforts that must be explored to prevent costly disasters that eventually hit the wallets of Californians statewide, he added.
“These aren’t just common-sense measures, they’re life-saving strategies. And they don’t just stabilize the insurance market, they help protect Californians from losing everything in the next inevitable wildfire,” he said.
Although some have criticized the trickle-down costs for policyholders, insurers have insisted that the ability to recoup some of the costs from ratepayers will keep companies from moving out of California.
“This is essential to prevent even greater strain on California’s already unbalanced insurance market and avoiding widespread policy cancellations that would jeopardize coverage for millions of Californians,” said Mark Sektnan of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, the largest national trade association for home, auto and business insurers.
Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy group, said it would challenge the move to charge ratepayers.
“Consumer Watchdog is exploring every legal option to stop a bailout if any insurance company seeks to make consumers pay,” Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, said in a statement.
