Via ShutterstockCalifornians living and working in wildfire-prone areas are familiar with the challenges of finding insurance for their homes and businesses, but all homeowners and businesses could soon feel their pain if the dominos in California’s fragile insurance market continue to fall in an unbalanced way.
Homes destroyed during the Thomas fire in Ventura, 2018. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Increasingly, California residents have been left with no choice but to accept the California FAIR Plan, the insurer of last resort, and the typically higher rates that come with it. The FAIR Plan provides basic fire insurance coverage when traditional insurance is not available, often for properties that other insurers decline to cover because they are considered high-risk.
The 2020 Silverado Fire burns toward homes in Orange County, northeast of Irvine. (Photo: markmandersonfilms, via Shutterstock)Sarah Mapel bought her dream home in Santa Cruz County’s Boulder Creek neighborhood in 2018. Later, she purchased fire insurance through the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan, a state-mandated program for consumers unable to acquire such insurance due to high-risk factors. “It was quite expensive,” she said.