The FAIR Plan is the floor, not the default.

What the FAIR Plan is

The California FAIR Plan is a pool that every home insurance company in the state must belong to. It exists so a home that cannot get coverage anywhere else can still buy basic fire insurance. It is real coverage that pays real claims, and for some homes, it really is the only option.

Both are true at once. It covers far less than the policy you probably had before, and it now costs more.

casa.insure is independent of the California FAIR Plan. This is not the Plan's official site; the Plan itself is at cfpnet.com.

What it covers, and what it does not

A FAIR Plan dwelling policy is a fire policy, not a full homeowners policy. It covers fire and smoke.

You can add wind and hail. A standard homeowners policy covers more. It adds water damage from a burst pipe, theft, injury to someone on your property, and the cost of living elsewhere while you rebuild.

The gap is why a second policy exists. Homeowners call it the wrap. Insurers call it a DIC policy, short for difference in conditions.

It sits alongside a FAIR Plan policy and fills in liability, water, theft, and loss of use. Without the wrap, a FAIR Plan policy leaves you carrying risks you almost certainly do not want. If you have a mortgage, your lender may require both policies together.

Two policies also mean two yearly prices, two sets of paperwork, and two renewals to keep track of. That is the real cost of staying on the FAIR Plan, and it is the number to compare against one full policy from another insurer.

What changes on October 15

FAIR Plan dwelling rates change on October 15, 2026, and go up by 29.1% on average for both new policies and renewals. Averages hide the real spread: about half of homeowners see their bill go up 30 to 50 percent, while about a quarter see it go down. Exactly where your own home lands depends on its details.

If your renewal is coming up and the new number is higher, that is this increase arriving. It is a good moment to check what the rest of the market would charge, now that the comparison has changed.

Who needs the FAIR Plan, and who ended up there by default

The FAIR Plan is meant for homes with no other option. But whether a home has another option is not a fact about the house. It depends entirely on where someone looked for coverage.

Beyond the standard insurers, California has a large market of specialty insurers built for homes the standard companies will not take. The technical name for it is surplus lines. That market now covers more than 300,000 California homes, up from about 50,000 in 2023.

Many homeowners land on the FAIR Plan in a hurry after a non-renewal. It was simply the option they could arrange fastest. Many never find out whether a fuller policy exists for close to the same price.

Nothing requires you to shop around while you are on the FAIR Plan. But nothing stops you either. There is no penalty for leaving mid-term, and whatever you already paid for the rest of the year is refunded.

If the FAIR Plan really is the answer

Sometimes it is. If a full search of the market comes back empty, the right setup is the FAIR Plan plus a wrap policy. You should see the combined yearly cost laid out clearly, with a licensed agent walking you through both policies.

The goal is not to avoid the FAIR Plan itself. It is to avoid landing there by default, alone, without ever learning what another policy would have cost.