The California Department of Insurance published a press release announcing an expansion of the state’s FAIR plan and actions taken to increase transparency as part of an ongoing comprehensive reform process.
Commissioner Lara has temporarily approved increased limits for high-value commercial properties, homeowners associations, and affordable housing developments. The expansion would provide policies for properties with limits of up to $20 million per building, with a maximum limit of $100 million per location. This will be available July 26, 2025, with a planned sunset in 2028.
Commissioner Lara has also taken actions to increase the transparency of the plan. Key stats, including total exposures, financial data, and other information, can be found on the FAIR Plan website.
The plan’s total exposure is $599 billion as of March 2025, which represents a significant 31% increase from $458 billion in September 2024. The total policies in force are 573,739 as of March 2025, which represents a 23% increase from September 2024.
Commissioner Lara hopes to depopulate the plan and sees the expansion as a short-term solution as California is going through an insurance crisis, with a long-term goal of implementing more insurance reforms to stabilize the market, such as requiring insurers to write policies in wildfire-distressed areas.
The press release can be found here.
Ray Sugrim
Ray Sugrim is an Insurance Editor with FC&S Expert Coverage Interpretation, a division of National Underwriter Company and Arc Network. Ray is responsible for helping develop and edit content for subscribers. Ray is a St John’s University graduate with a degree in Risk Management & Insurance and is a CPCU candidate.