El aumento de tarifas del Plan FAIR del 30% en promedio afectará a los propietarios de California este otoño

California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort for high-risk properties, is set to increase its rates by an average of 30% this October, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle. The move comes as the plan grapples with a surge in demand and massive losses from recent disasters, including the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025.

The FAIR Plan has seen its policy count balloon by 152% in recent years, jumping from roughly 270,000 policies in 2022 to more than 680,000 as of March 2026. This dramatic growth reflects the deepening crisis in California's property insurance market, where traditional insurers have increasingly declined to provide new fire coverage or renew existing policies in wildfire-prone areas.

Dave Jones, who served as California's Insurance Commissioner from 2011 to 2019 and now directs the Climate Risk Initiative Center at UC Berkeley School of Law, explained the rationale behind the rate hike in an interview with Insight Host Vicki Gonzalez. "The FAIR Plan’s losses have been so substantial," Jones said.

With the LA wildfires, the plan lost so much money that it ran out of funds, requiring a $1 billion infusion—half from insurers and half from all California policyholders. The rate increase, the first since a 16% hike in 2023, is intended to stabilize the plan's finances.

Jones noted that the average 30% increase masks significant variation. "For some homes in some areas, it's going to be substantially higher because the risk they face is substantially higher," he said.

All 680,000 FAIR Plan policyholders will see some level of increase, though those who have invested in home hardening or defensible space may qualify for discounts.

Policyholders will be notified of the new rates upon renewal, typically 60 days in advance. Jones advised residents to review state insurance department standards for wildfire mitigation to potentially reduce their premiums.

He also called for legislative action to require insurers to give greater credit for risk-reduction measures.

Jones criticized recent regulatory changes that allowed insurers to include reinsurance costs and use forward-looking models in their rates, arguing that the promised increase in policies written in high-risk areas has been inadequate. He proposed a federal reinsurance program for FAIR Plans as a more targeted alternative to a national fire insurance scheme, which he warned could be regressive and encourage development in risky areas.

The rate hike is a stark reminder of the growing financial toll of climate change in California, where wildfire risk has become a year-round threat. As Jones put it, "I think that's sadly just the tip of the iceberg."