The number of FAIR policies in force has climbed significantly over the last several years across certain lines of business. (Credit: Oleksii/Adobe Stock)
California’s FAIR Plan serves as the state’s insurer of last resort for those struggling to find fire coverage, but more Californians are turning to it for insurance coverage than ever before. In fact, so many insureds have transitioned to the FAIR Plan that it has become one of the largest insurers in the state, covering about 5% of all insured residents.
As of June 2025, the FAIR Plan reported a total exposure of $650 billion. This marks a 42% increase from September 2024 and a 289% increase since September 2021.
The number of FAIR policies in force has climbed significantly over the last several years, as well, across certain lines of business. In September 2021, the insurer had a total of 240,123 dwelling and commercial policies in force. By September 2024, that number had grown to 464,900 policies. As of June 2025, however, the number of dwelling and commercial policies in force with the FAIR Plan surpassed 610,000 with written premiums of $1.84 billion — a 33% jump from the previous year.
In the first nine months of the 2025 fiscal year, the FAIR Plan added an average of 22,697 new policies per month across dwelling and commercial lines for a total of 204,269 from October 2024 to June 2025.
The San Francisco Chronicle recently analyzed FAIR Plan policies and rates across the state to determine just how much residents were paying for these policies and they found that — despite the FAIR Plan not raising rates since 2023 — policyholders are paying more than ever for coverage. They attribute the extra expense to increased wildfire risk and more expensive homes joining the plan.
The Chronicle report that in 2021, the average coverage amount for a FAIR Plan policy was around $680,000. In 2025, the average has surpassed $1 million per policy. Previously, the FAIR Plan capped coverage limits at $1.5 million per home, but in 2020 the limit was increased to $3 million per policy.
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