• Dwelling Fire (Owner-Occupied)
• Homeowners Multi-Peril
• Renters (Tenant)
• Condominium "Unit Owners"

INTRODUCTION

Every two years, the Statistical Analysis Division (SAD) of the California Department of Insurance (CDI), collects residential property insurance coverage data in order to assist the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in developing their Annual Homeowners Average Premium/Market Share Report, and to support the Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Disaster Recovery Program. The data collected includes total policy premiums, exposures and amounts of insurance coverage submitted by insurance companies regarding Dwelling Fire (Owner-Occupied), Homeowners Multiple Peril, Renters and Condominium "Unit Owners", for experience years 2001 through 2007.

With many unforeseeable perils, such as the number of devastating fires that have occurred in California in the past two decades, having sufficient insurance coverage is critical.

The tables and charts in this report summarize the Residential Property Insurance market, and the changes in the premiums, exposures, average premiums, and the amounts of insurance coverage, from 2001 through 2007.

DATA TABLES AND CHARTS

A) Premium and Exposure Data Summary:

The tables below summarizes the total premiums and exposures for Dwelling Fire (Owner-Occupied), Homeowners Multi-Peril, Condominium "Unit Owners" and Renters (Tenant) insurance in California spanning 7 years.

The increase/decrease in premiums/exposures can be attributed to any number of factors.  For the purpose of this report, no assumptions are made as to why these trends have occurred without further studies.

Dwelling Fire (Owner-Occupied)

Homeowners Multi-Peril

Renters (Tenant)

Condominium "Unit Owners"

B) Premium and Exposure Data Summary Illustration:

The bar graphs below (links) illustrate a clearer picture of the comparative changes of the total premiums and exposures from 2001 through 2007, for each policy type.

Dwelling Fire (Owner-Occupied Summary)
Homeowners Multi-Peril Summary
Renters Summary
Condominium "Unit Owners" Summary

C) Amount of Insurance Distribution:

This table shows the total premiums and exposures in each Amount of Insurance Range, for the Dwelling Fire (Owner-Occupied), Homeowners Multi-Peril, Condominium "Unit Owners" and Renter (Tenant) insurance.

D) Amount of Insurance Distribution Illustration:

The line charts below (links) show the distribution of amounts of insurance ranges and demonstrate a graphic presentation of the increase of exposures from the lower amounts of insurance range to the higher ranges for each policy type from 2001 through 2007.

Note: For Renters and Condominium "Unit Owners", the data in the "100,000 and over" amount of insurance range, are included in the "75,000 to 99,999" range in experience year 2001.

Dwelling Fire (Owner-Occupied)
Homeowners Multi-Peril
Renters
Condominium "Unit Owners"

CONCLUSION

Overall, total written premiums have been generally increasing. This can be attributed to the rising cost of building/rebuilding a structure and/or the growing replacement cost for personal property contents. Consequently, average premiums are rising from year to year. In addition, California is experiencing a shift from lower amounts of insurance to higher amounts. This substantiates the realization of the importance and increasing need for sufficient insurance protection. With the number of unexpected perils that can jeopardize one of your biggest investments, your home, knowing that sufficient insurance coverage is in place to cover the financial consequences of your loss, is reassuring.

CONTACT

If you have any questions or comments regarding this report, please contact:

Luciano Gobbo
Division Chief, Statistical Analysis Division
gobbol@insurance.ca.gov
(213) 346-6308

Questions regarding residential property coverage should be directed to:

Department of Insurance Consumer Hotline (800) 927-HELP