How does the California FAIR Plan clearinghouse work?

The FAIR Plan clearinghouse is a matching program. The Plan shares information about its policies with insurers that sign up, so they can offer to cover some of those homes instead.

A 2020 state law, AB 3012, told the Plan to build it. Insurance Code Section 10095 says its purpose is "to help reduce the number of existing FAIR Plan policies." The Plan opened it on June 5, 2021.

The Senate Insurance Committee's 2020 analysis called the clearinghouse "a California version of a depopulation program," like those in Louisiana, Florida and Massachusetts. Those programs match a last-resort plan's customers with insurers willing to cover them.

The law lets the program include specialty insurers (the technical name is surplus lines), but only if standard insurers get the first option. Standard insurers are the companies that file their prices with the state.

A second clearinghouse, for commercial policies such as those covering farms and condo buildings, opened in July 2024 under a 2023 law, SB 505.

The clearinghouse does not move anyone's policy by itself. It can only lead to an offer, which you are free to take or turn down.

Each month the Plan refreshes the data and splits it into customers with a broker and customers without one. The data leaves out customers' contact details.

The Plan told the Assembly Insurance Committee in March 2026 that giving insurers direct access to customers was an option for the future. A 2026 law allows that from January 1, 2028.

Since July 1, 2025, the Plan's rules have it flag homes it knows have done wildfire safety work from the state's Safer from Wildfires list. It also flags homes in communities with a wildfire safety designation.

The Plan can flag only work it knows about, so get finished work on record with your broker.

An offer then moves in these steps.

• An insurer emails the Plan, signs its participation agreement, and gets access to the data.
• Standard insurers see each month's data first, and specialty insurers see it 30 days later.
• An insurer that finds a home that fits its rules contacts the broker named on the policy.
• The broker may then bring the offer to you.
• If you accept, the new policy starts first, and then your broker can cancel the FAIR Plan policy, naming the clearinghouse as the reason.

You are in it unless you opted out. State law requires the Plan to tell every customer how it shares their information and how to opt out.

The Plan's Clearinghouse Disclosures page on cfpnet.com links to its opt-out form. The named insured enters the policy number, name, and property address, then checks a box to opt out.

Opting out only stops the sharing with clearinghouse insurers. It does not stop you or an agent from shopping for another policy at any time.

The Department of Insurance filed an examination report on the Plan on December 22, 2025. It found that from June 2021 through April 30, 2025, "only 730 residential risks have been replaced with voluntary market coverage."

That is 730 residential properties moved to private insurers in almost four years. For scale, the Plan held 621,404 residential policies on September 30, 2025, by its own count.

The Assembly Insurance Committee's paper for its March 18, 2026 hearing said: "Very little is known about the FAIR Plan clearinghouse program almost 5 years later."

The Plan and the Department give three reasons, and the Plan notes a limit on its own count.

• Few insurers sign up. State examiners found participation "generally static at 11 members" from June 2021 through April 2025.
• Offers must go through the broker named on the policy, a state-law rule the Plan told the Department it cannot change on its own.
• The Plan told the Department that in many cases its price is lower than a private insurer would charge.
• The Plan relies on the cancellation reason a broker picks to know that a move came from the clearinghouse.

A 2026 law, AB 69, changes the program on fixed dates. It was signed on September 27, 2026, as Chapter 496 of the Statutes of 2026.

From January 1, 2027, the Plan must post a list of the standard and specialty insurers taking part and update it every quarter. The law also adds clearinghouse information to the ways an agent or broker must help someone seeking basic property insurance.

From May 1, 2027, insurers in the clearinghouse must report every quarter how many FAIR Plan customers they have insured through it. The Plan must send the totals to the Insurance Commissioner and the Legislature's insurance committees within 30 days, and post them on its website.

From January 1, 2028, the law lets the Plan share the customer information an insurer needs to make an offer, including the broker on the policy. If a broker is named, the insurer must send its offer to the customer and the broker together.

Shop on your own schedule. On August 3, 2026, the Department of Insurance said FAIR Plan customers should "shop the market regularly rather than assume the FAIR Plan remains their only option."

Many policies do leave. The Department estimated that about 24,000 policies left the Plan in April and May 2026.

Check standard insurers first, then specialty insurers, through a licensed agent. The Department's Home Insurance Finder lists insurers and agents that sell homeowners insurance.

When an offer or a quote arrives, compare what it covers. A FAIR Plan policy covers fire and smoke, plus wind and hail if you add them. It does not cover water damage from a burst pipe, theft, or someone getting hurt on your property.

Then switch in the safe order: start the new policy, confirm your lender has it, and cancel the FAIR Plan policy last. If your policy renews soon, the 2026 rate change is one more reason to compare first.