Commissioner Lara protects 50,000 Californians across three counties from non-renewals following wildfire emergency

News: 2026 Press Release

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today ordered insurance companies to preserve residential property insurance coverage for approximately 50,000 policyholders in Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Calaveras counties after Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergency declaration for the Dove Fire. The Commissioner’s Bulletin shields those living within the fire perimeters or adjoining ZIP Codes of the Dove Fire from insurance non-renewal or cancellation for one year from the date of the Governor’s emergency declaration, regardless of whether they suffered a loss.

The one-year moratorium issued in the Commissioner’s Bulletin also extends to certain commercial property insurance policies including commercial insurance policies with less than $25,000 in annual premium, for homeowners’ associations, apartment complexes, student housing, and senior living facilities, among other specified real property used primarily for residential and habitational purposes, within the same perimeters and adjoining ZIP Codes. This newly expanded moratorium on certain commercial property insurance policies is a result of Commissioner Lara sponsoring the Business Insurance Protection Act (SB 547, Chapter 544, Statutes of 2025) last year that went into effect on January 1, 2026.

“I am acting to protect thousands of Californians from the stress of losing their insurance coverage after experiencing a wildfire emergency,” said Commissioner Lara. “This protection is needed now as we bring back insurance options to all parts of our state from those who need them the most.”

Commissioner Lara’s moratorium actions protected more than 1.2 million homeowners in 2025 under the residential moratorium law and more than 4 million homeowners statewide since the law’s enactment in 2019. Consumers who were non-renewed prior to the emergency declaration date and are unable to obtain insurance or are dissatisfied with their current coverage should contact the California Department of Insurance for assistance in understanding their options and tools.

Under Commissioner Lara’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy, 12 insurance groups, including seven of the state’s largest homeowners carriers – Farmers, Mercury, Auto Club of Southern California, CSAA, USAA, Liberty Mutual, and Travelers, plus moderate sized companies like companies Pacific Specialty, Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), California Casualty, and Horace Mann, and new entrants MS Transverse, and Trusted Resource Underwriters Exchange of Ohio (TRUE) – have announced they are staying and growing in parts of the state affected by wildfires. 

Consumers can go to the Department of Insurance website to see if their ZIP Code is included in the moratorium. Consumers can also contact the Department at 800-927-4357 or via online chat or email at insurance.ca.gov if they believe their insurance company is in violation of this law or have additional claims-related questions.

Commissioner Lara’s major wildfire-related actions since taking office in 2019 include:

• Conceptualizing and implementing California’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy, the largest insurance reform in thirty years. This new strategy is a comprehensive approach to modernizing California’s insurance market by improving insurance choices for consumers, creating a resilient insurance market, and protecting communities from climate threats, while addressing the long-term sustainability of the nation’s largest insurance market.
• Creating “Safer from Wildfires,” a new insurance framework that incorporates wildfire safety measures to help save lives while making homes and businesses more resilient. Safer from Wildfires was created by a first-ever partnership between the Department and the emergency and preparedness agencies in the Governor’s Administration, including the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES), the then-Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the California Public Utilities Commission.
• Finalizing new regulations to incorporate Safer from Wildfires in insurance pricing, driving down costs for consumers who have taken actions to protect their communities while increasing transparency about their home’s or business’s “wildfire risk score.”
• Sponsoring new insurance protections signed into law by the Governor — despite opposition from insurance companies — that will mean larger payouts for some claims, less red tape from insurance companies, and more help for people under evacuation orders.
• Expanding residential and commercial coverage limits at the FAIR Plan for the first time in 25 years to keep pace with increased costs.  

Following the Governor’s state of emergency declarations, the Department of Insurance partners with
CAL FIRE and CalOES, pursuant to existing statute, to identify wildfire perimeters for mandatory moratorium areas. The Department will continue to collaborate with CAL FIRE and CalOES to identify additional wildfire perimeters for any fires where there is a gubernatorial declaration of a state of emergency.

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