Amwins has partnered with Vivere to launch an exclusive California FAIR Plan wrap product, targeting the growing number of commercial and dwelling risks that have been pushed on to the state's insurer of last resort and left with significant coverage gaps.
Developed by Vivere and distributed solely through Amwins, the facility is designed to sit alongside California FAIR Plan policies and provide non-fire protection and additional limits for portfolios of FAIR Plan-insured accounts, including both commercial and residential schedules.
The launch comes as California's property market continues to grapple with wildfire losses, regulatory constraints and capacity withdrawals by admitted carriers.
California FAIR Plan data showed total exposure reaching about $724 billion as of December 2025, a roughly 230% increase since September 2022, with dwelling and commercial policies in force climbing sharply over the same period.
The plan, originally conceived as a market of last resort, has effectively become one of the state’s primary property insurers as more risks are non‑renewed or declined in the voluntary market.
FAIR Plan policies typically provide basic fire coverage and related perils, with residential limits generally capped at $3 million. Many standard homeowners’ perils – such as water damage, theft and liability – are excluded, leaving insureds to seek separate difference‑in‑conditions or wrap solutions to obtain more complete protection.
Regulators are trying to reverse this trend. Through his “Sustainable Insurance Strategy,” Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has advanced reforms that allow insurers, for the first time, to include reinsurance costs in their rate filings if they agree to write at least 85% of their statewide market share in wildfire‑distressed areas.
The aim is to move policyholders off the FAIR Plan and back into the voluntary market, though FAIR Plan volumes remain elevated and brokers continue to report delays and capacity constraints for high‑risk properties.
Against that backdrop, the Amwins-Vivere wrap product is intended to complement FAIR Plan fire coverage with broader, non‑fire protection and higher limits, bringing overall coverage closer to what would be available in the traditional private market.
The facility uses Vivere’s proprietary underwriting platform to deliver what the partners describe as a low‑touch quoting process. Retail agents can submit a completed California FAIR Plan application and obtain quotes for a single risk or an entire portfolio of FAIR Plan‑insured locations within minutes, rather than working each location individually.
“Efficiency and underwriting discipline don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” said Rachael Dougherty, chief underwriting officer, specialty property at Vivere. “This product brings together advanced technology and experienced underwriting to make it faster and easier for agents to place complex California property risks.”
The wrap offers limits up to $100 million, while dwelling wraps provide limits up to $3 million. The program is written on A‑rated paper, with all offerings subject to the wrap policy’s terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions.
For retail brokers, the facility formalizes what has increasingly become a two‑policy structure in California -- FAIR Plan fire coverage paired with a private‑market wrap or difference‑in‑conditions policy for excluded perils and excess limits. Existing FAIR Plan commercial wrap offerings, including those backed by global reinsurers, have already demonstrated demand for structured companion policies
As more risks move on to the FAIR Plan, lenders are taking a harder look at borrowers’ overall insurance programs, and some are pressing for broader protection than a basic FAIR Plan policy can provide. Wrap solutions that can be quoted quickly on multi‑location schedules may help avoid delays to closings or refinancing in wildfire‑exposed ZIP codes.
The launch also highlights the shift toward tech‑enabled specialty platforms that seek to price and manage catastrophe‑exposed business using granular hazard, construction and portfolio data. Vivere’s model mirrors a wider trend among newer MGAs looking to differentiate on speed, transparency and discipline in distressed property segments.
At the same time, the program underlines the continued role of the surplus lines and program markets in filling gaps as California’s admitted carriers recalibrate their appetite under evolving regulatory rules.
Even if reforms succeed in drawing more private capacity back into wildfire‑prone areas, most market participants expect FAIR Plan utilization to remain a central feature of the state’s risk landscape for the foreseeable future.
