As another wildfire season looms, insurance companies have abandoned some California neighborhoods at lower risk of burning, forcing tens of thousands of homeowners to obtain bare-bones coverage from the state’s insurer of last resort.
California intended the insurer, called the FAIR Plan, as a backstop for homeowners unable to secure insurance on the private market because they live in areas of the state classifies as at high risk for wildfire due to vegetation, terrain and weather. Between September 2024 and December 2025, enrollment in FAIR surged 43% as insurers pull back from California following a series of catastrophic wildfires, including last year’s $40 billion Los Angeles inferno.
But in a sign insurers have curtailed coverage even in places less likely to face wildfires, 14% of current FAIR policies are for properties largely in urban zones with low fire risk, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of FAIR plan data, with 28% of the cash-strapped plan’s exposure now in those areas.
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From Bloomberg News reporter Todd Woody
As another wildfire season looms, insurance companies have abandoned some California neighborhoods at lower risk of burning, forcing tens of thousands of homeowners to obtain bare-bones coverage from the state’s insurer of last resort.
California intended the insurer, called the FAIR Plan, as a backstop for homeowners unable to secure insurance on the private market because they live in areas of the state classifies as at high risk for wildfire due to vegetation, terrain and weather. Between September 2024 and December 2025, enrollment in FAIR surged 43% as insurers pull back from California following a series of catastrophic wildfires, including last year’s $40 billion Los Angeles inferno.
But in a sign insurers have curtailed coverage even in places less likely to face wildfires, 14% of current FAIR policies are for properties largely in urban zones with low fire risk, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of FAIR plan data, with 28% of the cash-strapped plan’s exposure now in those areas.
[Read the full story here](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-15/california-insurance-crisis-hits-even-homes-facing-lower-wildfire-risk).