The Travelers Companies, Inc. has announced its voluntary participation in California’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy, notifying the California Department of Insurance of its intention to expand homeowners insurance availability across the state.
The move is tied to the Sustainable Insurance Strategy, which aims to increase availability by enabling carriers to use forward-looking wildfire catastrophe models and to factor reinsurance costs into rates. The strategy was championed by Ricardo Lara.
The announcement comes as California continues to grapple with a homeowners' insurance crisis driven largely by wildfire exposure. The January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires destroyed more than 16,000 structures and killed 30 people, accelerating an already strained market.
Between September 2024 and December 2025, enrollment in the California FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, surged 43% as insurers pulled back from the state following a series of catastrophic wildfires, including the Los Angeles inferno.
Under the Sustainable Insurance Strategy’s regulations, insurers are required to write policies for higher-risk homes, affecting more than 1.5 million homeowners in wildfire-distressed areas and those on the FAIR Plan.
“California homeowners want access to reliable, fairly priced coverage and service from financially strong insurers they can count on,” said Michael Klein, executive vice president and president of personal insurance at Travelers.
“Offering risk-based pricing for coverage facilitates a fair, competitive, and healthy market for all participants. It will also allow us to responsibly operate throughout the state while supporting our ability to meet our obligations and fulfill our promise to customers.”
Travelers said it also intends to increase discounts for homeowners who invest in wildfire mitigation. The company cited updates such as ember-resistant vents, Class A roofing, and defensible space as improvements that can affect both eligibility and pricing.
The Sustainable Insurance Strategy has been cited by carriers in announcements to return to writing business in the state. In January, two insurers announced plans to expand coverage in wildfire-prone regions in exchange for rate increases.
CSAA Insurance Group raised rates by 6.9% under the strategy, and Farmers Insurance announced in late November that it would eliminate a cap on the number of homeowners policies it offers in California.
A coalition of 40 organizations, however, cited data showing that insurers have dropped twice as many policies in wildfire-distressed areas since 2023 as they have committed to write under the Sustainable Insurance Strategy by 2028, arguing the market is contracting faster than the policy response is taking effect.
