Is your ZIP code under a California insurance moratorium?

A moratorium is a pause on dropping home policies near a declared wildfire. California Insurance Code section 675.1 bars an insurer from dropping a home policy in a ZIP code "within or adjacent to the fire perimeter."

The bar covers only a decision "based solely on the fact that the insured structure is located in an area in which a wildfire has occurred."

So the fire nearby cannot be the reason.

Each moratorium starts with the Governor's declaration of a state of emergency for a wildfire. CAL FIRE maps the fire, and the Insurance Commissioner then issues a bulletin listing the ZIP codes.

A moratorium protects people who own houses, condos and mobile homes, landlords of up to four units, and renters, whether or not their home was damaged. The Department's bulletins apply it to standard and specialty insurers alike.

If your insurer sent a wildfire-risk notice on or after the day the emergency was declared, the bulletin requires an offer to take it back. The insurer must also offer to restore or renew the policy.

Start at the Department of Insurance's page called Mandatory One Year Moratorium on Non-Renewals. It links each fire's bulletin, which lists the ZIP codes, and a search by ZIP code or fire name.

Find your fire, note the date the emergency was declared, and read the bulletin for how long the protection lasts.

The moratorium for the Palisades and Eaton fires ran "for one year, starting on January 7, 2025," in the Department's words, so it has ended. If your home there burned, a separate renewal rule applies, explained below.

As of October 28, 2026, these three were active:

• Gann Fire: declared August 6, 2026, with 22 ZIP codes in Calaveras, San Joaquin, Amador, Tuolumne and Stanislaus counties.
• Gifford Fire: declared December 23, 2025, with 29 ZIP codes in Kern, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
• Pack Fire: declared December 9, 2025, with 4 ZIP codes in Mono and Inyo counties.

AB 2038 (Chapter 917, Statutes of 2026), approved by the Governor on September 30, 2026, rewrites section 675.1 from January 1, 2027.

From January 1, 2027, the moratorium lasts "two years after the declaration of a state of emergency," in the new law's words.

From January 1, 2027, the renewal rule after a total loss grows too. The insurer must offer to renew for "at least the next three annual renewal periods, but no less than 36 months" from the loss. A few conditions apply, such as the loss not being due, even in part, to your own negligence.

The law does not say whether the longer periods reach emergencies declared, or homes lost, before January 1, 2027. Watch the Department's bulletins, and ask your insurer in writing.

A moratorium protects the policy you had when the emergency was declared. The law applies it to policies "in effect at the time of the declared emergency," so a policy bought later is not protected.

The bulletins require an offer to take back only wildfire-risk notices sent on or after the day the emergency was declared. If your notice came earlier, ask your insurer in writing to keep your policy. If it refuses, ask the Department of Insurance for help.

It does not stop a cancellation for reasons the law allows anyway, such as an unpaid bill or fraud (section 676).

The law speaks only to cancelling and non-renewing. Its words say nothing about the price at renewal.

The law also names three cases the moratorium does not reach:

• Willful or grossly negligent acts by the owner that significantly raise the risk.
• Other losses, not tied to the fire, that together rule the home out for renewal.
• Changes to the property, beyond the fire damage, that make it uninsurable.

Yes, since January 1, 2026. A 2025 law, SB 547 (Chapter 544, Statutes of 2025), added section 675.55, which gives commercial property policies the same protection for one year.

That law names policies for homeowners associations and condo associations, plus apartment complexes and other housing. The Gann Fire bulletin of August 14, 2026, was the first to apply it. The Gifford and Pack fire bulletins cover home policies only.

AB 2038 changed only the rule for homes in section 675.1, so the rule for associations in section 675.55 still reads one year.

Your own condo unit policy is a residential policy, so the main moratorium covers it. If you own a unit, ask your board when the association's policy renews.

Put the end date on your calendar and compare it with your renewal date. Once a moratorium ends, an insurer may again decide not to renew for wildfire risk.

The usual notice rules still apply: a non-renewal needs written notice at least 75 days before the policy ends.

If your home was destroyed, the renewal rule runs from the date of loss instead, and your living expense coverage has its own clock.

Use the time to shop, standard insurers first, then specialty insurers. If a notice does come, the non-renewal timeline shows what to do week by week.