California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has issued a statement regarding a court's decision to uphold his authority order to expand FAIR Plan "last resort" coverage to better protect homeowners who are increasingly losing their homeowners' insurance due to wildfire risks.
According to a press release, the Commissioner had the following to say about the ruling. "With insurance companies increasingly dropping their customers due to wildfire risk, homeowners depend on the FAIR Plan as the insurer of last resort for their coverage. The court ruling affirms my authority that the FAIR Plan must offer broader, more comprehensive insurance protection for consumers. In addition, by forcing its policyholders to purchase separate insurance policies for liability and contents on top of its 'fire-only' policy, the FAIR Plan drives up the price for consumers, which only benefits the insurance companies that profit from this unfair and costly arrangement. California consumers win when they have greater options for insurance coverage, which is why I ordered the FAIR Plan to modernize its coverage 18 months ago. The FAIR Plan and the insurance companies who control it need to move forward to implement this needed coverage option as soon as possible, and I have directed my staff to work quickly to make sure this comprehensive coverage is available to all Californians."
You can read the Court Order here.
The ruling was issued on July 12 and was delivered to the Department on July 19th. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel directed the Commissioner to remove "some liability coverages that have no relationship, nexus, or connection to the insured property" and to resubmit his order to the FAIR Plan so it will be immediately implemented.
Commissioner Lara ordered the FAIR Plan in 2019 to offer a comprehensive policy that was similar to a traditional homeowners policy, that added to the current fire-only coverage, so the homeowners who were non-renewed or found that they were unable to get similar insurance coverage from a standard insurance company, could get the comprehensive coverage from the FAIR Plan.
If the Commissioners order were to fail, homeowners would be forced to purchase an expensive and inconvenient "difference in conditions" coverage on top of their FAIR Plan "fire-only" policy in order to get insurance coverage similar to the amount of coverage they previously had through the voluntary market.
Editor's Note: Historically, most wildfires occur in North-Western states between May and September every year. For current California Wildfire stats and reports, click here.