Enrollment in California's insurer of last resort grew 4% from September through year-end, bringing the total to 668,609 policies in force. The increase followed a 39% jump in policies for the FAIR Plan fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
The continued growth has intensified disagreements between consumer advocates, who say it signals a deepening insurance crisis, and industry representatives, who argue that recently enacted reforms need more time to take hold.
Written premium for the California FAIR Plan rose from $1.93 billion to $1.96 billion during the final three months of 2025. Total exposure for residential properties increased 50% to $645.23 billion statewide at the end of September, while commercial exposure climbed 82% to $49.5 billion.
Amid the growth in enrollment, the FAIR Plan has submitted a proposal to increase home insurance rates by an average of 35.8%, which would be its largest rate hike in at least seven years. If approved, the increase would mark the FAIR Plan's first rate application using wildfire catastrophe models and reinsurance costs.
Consumer Watchdog said the enrollment figures indicate an ongoing insurance crisis despite reforms enacted under Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara's Sustainable Insurance Strategy. Executive Director Carmen Balber said "the FAIR Plan added more policies in the last three months than the commissioner's strategy will add in the state in the next two years."
Industry representatives offered a different assessment. Christian Rataj, senior regional vice president of state government affairs West at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said California's regulatory insurance issues "were allowed to fester for years, if not decades" and that reforms are "just coming online."
CDI Spokesperson Gabriel Sanchez said the FAIR Plan's growth represents a 0.2% increase out of more than 8.6 million homeowners policies in the state. He stated that carriers "are committing to stay and grow in California for the first time."
Mark Sektnan, vice president of state government relations at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, said the market is "already showing signs of improvement."
Rating plans for Mercury General and CSAA have been approved under new regulations requiring additional coverage in wildfire-prone areas in exchange for the use of forward-looking wildfire models. Sektnan said "the industry is optimistic about the Sustainable Insurance Strategy."
