If you tried to buy or renew home insurance in California over the last few years, you probably ran into the same wall a lot of homeowners did: your regular insurer non-renewed you, a new carrier wouldn’t quote your ZIP code at all, and you ended up on the state’s FAIR Plan — often paying more for less coverage than a standard policy would give you. That story isn’t over, but it is changing. Here’s where things actually stand in 2026, and what it means if you’re currently on the FAIR Plan or were turned down before.
How the market got this strained in the first place
Back-to-back wildfire seasons, capped by the Palisades and Eaton fires in January 2025, wiped out tens of billions of dollars in insured value in a matter of weeks. Insurers responded the way insurers do after major losses: they paused new business in high-risk areas, declined to renew existing policies, and in a couple of well-known cases, stopped writing new California homeowners policies almost entirely. The FAIR Plan — created as a last-resort backstop, not an everyday insurance option — absorbed the overflow, growing from a few hundred thousand policies a few years ago to well over half a million today.
What has actually changed in 2026
California’s Department of Insurance rolled out a package of reforms known as the Sustainable Insurance Strategy, which gives insurers more flexibility on pricing in exchange for a commitment to write more policies in the ZIP codes the FAIR Plan had been forced to absorb. The early results are showing up:
- Several carriers — including Mercury, CSAA/AAA, and Farmers — have expanded or removed caps on new homeowners business in wildfire-exposed areas.
- Travelers announced new California homeowners commitments in 2026, the first move of its kind from a major national carrier since the fires
- USAA has announced a statewide expansion for eligible members
- The FAIR Plan’s own growth has slowed sharply — it added roughly 16,000 new residential policies in the first quarter of 2026, down from 35,000-50,000 per quarter through much of 2024 and 2025, a real sign that more homeowners are finding private coverage again.
That said, the recovery is uneven. State Farm General and Allstate — two of the largest names in the state — have remained largely closed to new homeowners business through 2026, so “the market is healing” doesn’t mean every carrier is open, and it doesn’t mean every ZIP code qualifies yet.
FAIR Plan rates are still going up
Even as the private market opens up again in some areas, FAIR Plan premiums have continued to climb — filings in 2026 have pushed rates up by roughly 30% or more in many areas, with the exact impact varying a lot by ZIP code. If you’re on the FAIR Plan today, that’s the clearest financial reason to periodically check whether you now qualify for a standard policy instead.
What this means if you were declined before
Insurance eligibility isn’t permanent. A home that couldn’t get a quote from any admitted carrier two years ago may qualify today, especially as more carriers re-enter specific high-risk ZIP codes under the new state rules. A few things also genuinely help your odds:
- Defensible space and brush clearance around the home
- Type of roof and age (Class A fire-rated roofing is viewed favorably)
- Any wildfire mitigation work completed since your last decline
The catch is that no single insurance company will tell you when their own appetite has changed — you’d have to individually check with every carrier yourself, which is exactly the kind of comparison an independent broker is built to handle.
How MaxSeguro helps
We’re not tied to one insurance company, so as carriers change their appetite for California wildfire-zone properties, we can re-shop your home across our full network of 200+ carriers — not just the handful that happen to advertise the most. If you’re currently on the FAIR Plan, were declined in the past, or just haven’t checked your options in a year or two, it’s worth a free comparison to see what’s actually available to you right now.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is the FAIR Plan my only option if a company already declined me? Not necessarily. Insurance eligibility changes as carriers update which ZIP codes they’re willing to write in, so a decline from a year or two ago doesn’t guarantee a decline today.
Why do FAIR Plan rates keep increasing even as private carriers return? The FAIR Plan is priced to reflect the concentrated wildfire risk of the properties it insures, and it continues to file for rate increases to keep pace with claims costs — even as some of that risk starts shifting back to private carriers.
What can I do to improve my chances of qualifying with a private insurer? Defensible space, brush clearance, and upgrading to fire-resistant roofing materials are among the factors carriers look at most closely when evaluating wildfire-exposed properties.
How often should I re-shop my home insurance? At least once a year, or whenever you get a renewal increase — carrier appetite in California is changing quickly enough right now that “no options last year” doesn’t mean “no options this year.”.