California FAIR Plan Rate Increase 2026: What Was Approved, What Drives Your Cost, and What You Can Do

The California Department of Insurance approved a 29.1 percent rate change for the California FAIR Plan's dwelling fire program in 2026, against the 35.6 percent the plan requested. The Department's list of approved filings shows the filing closed as approved on April 6, 2026.^[1] The FAIR Plan has said the new rate applies from October 15, 2026, that not every policyholder will see the full amount, and that some will see a decrease.^[2] Keep in mind that 29.1 percent is a statewide average for the whole dwelling fire book. Your own change depends on where the house is, how much it's insured for, and what you've done to harden it.

Below we cover what was approved, why FAIR Plan prices keep going up, why two homes in different ZIP codes can get very different increases, and what you can do about yours. There's no public FAIR Plan premium calculator. The plan says it doesn't estimate rebuilding cost and its staff can't advise on limits.^[3] Your renewal notice is the closest thing you'll get to a calculator, and we explain when it has to arrive and what has to be on it.

What exactly was approved in 2026?

The Department of Insurance publishes a running list of rate filings it has approved or closed. The 2026 list, current to August 31, 2026, contains two California FAIR Plan personal lines entries. File 25-2174, for the Dwelling Fire program, is a rate filing with a requested change of 35.6 percent and an approved change of 29.1 percent, status approved, closed April 6, 2026 (SERFF filing MOCC-134657692). A second file, 25-2455, for Dwelling Fire and Allied Lines, was approved with a 0 percent rate change on the same date.^[1]

A few things are clear from that record. First, the approval is for the dwelling fire program, the residential policy most homeowners have. It doesn't cover commercial. Second, the plan asked for more than it got. Third, the Department's list doesn't show an effective date. The October 15, 2026 date comes from the FAIR Plan's own statement to the Orange County Register, which also said that "not every FAIR Plan customer will see their premium rise by this amount" and that some will see a decrease.^[2] Rate changes kick in when a policy renews, not in the middle of the term. So you'll see the increase at your first renewal on or after that date.^[13] That's also the time to have the regular market checked again. Send a FAIR Plan quote request 60 to 90 days before renewal and a broker has time to shop admitted and surplus lines carriers before the FAIR Plan bill comes due.

Why do FAIR Plan rates keep rising?

The FAIR Plan isn't allowed to lose money on purpose. Insurance Code section 10100.2 requires its rates to be actuarially sound, so that premiums are adequate to cover expected losses, expenses and taxes, while not being excessive or unfairly discriminatory.^[5] So when the plan grows in the riskiest parts of the state and the losses come in, rates have to go up.

And the plan has grown fast. As of June 2026 the plan had 696,562 policies in force and $768 billion of exposure, up 157 percent and 250 percent since September 2022, with written premium of $2.04 billion.^[6] Most of those policies sit where the regular market pulled out, and that's the part of the state most exposed to wildfire. The plan's own summary of the January 2025 Los Angeles fires puts its share at roughly 5,400 Eaton and Palisades claims and nearly $3.5 billion paid.^[7] To pay them it turned to a $1 billion assessment on member insurers, approved by the Commissioner in February 2025,^[8] and it has since secured a line of credit and a reinsurance program that includes a $750 million catastrophe bond.^[7] Under the 2024 modernization rules, insurers bear the first half of such an assessment; the second half can be recovered from policyholders only through a temporary supplemental fee that itself requires Prop 103 approval.^[8] That fee is separate from the 29.1 percent rate change, and it is charged by regular insurers on their own policies; our guide to the FAIR Plan temporary supplemental fee lists the insurers approved to charge it.

The upshot: the plan now carries more homes, in riskier places, than its old rates were set for. The 2026 approval closes part of that gap, not all of it. That's why the Department approved less than the plan asked for.

Why does FAIR Plan cost vary so much by ZIP code?

Property insurance is priced by territory. For the FAIR Plan, the part of territory that matters most is wildfire. The plan applies its hardening discounts to "the wildfire portion of the policy premium," which tells you the premium has a wildfire component that is rated separately from the basic fire and smoke component.^[9] If your ZIP code backs onto brush, that piece is big. On a suburban street grid it's small. When wildfire losses drive most of a rate change, homes with a big wildfire piece go up the most. Homes with little wildfire exposure can go up less, or even come down. That's how the plan can say some policyholders will get a decrease.^[2]

Everything else that moves the price is what you'd expect on any dwelling policy:

One thing you won't find on that list is a broker fee. There is no additional cost for using a broker on a FAIR Plan policy, and the Department of Insurance guide says a broker may not charge a fee for placing FAIR Plan coverage alone.^[3][12]

Is there a California FAIR Plan premium calculator?

No, there isn't a public one. The plan's site won't quote a premium until a registered broker sends in an application.^[3] You have two substitutes.

The first is your renewal offer. Insurance Code section 678 requires the insurer to deliver or mail an offer of renewal at least 45 days before the policy expires, contingent on payment of the premium stated in the offer, and to identify any limits being reduced or coverage being eliminated.^[4] If you renew on or after October 15, 2026, that offer is where you'll first see your own number.

The second is a rough ceiling. A former Insurance Commissioner, asked how policyholders should budget, suggested adding about 30 percent to the current premium and treating that as an estimate that could run higher for the riskiest homes.^[13] That's a way to budget, not a quote. If your home has a small wildfire piece, or you already get hardening discounts, your real number may come in lower.

What can FAIR Plan policyholders do about the increase?

1. Have the admitted market shopped again

   The Department of Insurance's Sustainable Insurance Strategy requires insurers that use catastrophe models and reinsurance costs in their rates to write in distressed areas at no less than 85 percent of their statewide market share, and it gives homes that meet Safer from Wildfires priority in moving back to the admitted market.^[14][15] Mercury, Allstate and CSAA were the first insurers to file rate plans using the new models in 2025.^[16] Carriers change what they'll write every year, so a home that got turned down in 2024 may get a quote now. Start with a quote for a high fire risk home.

2. Earn every hardening discount

   For policies effective on or after November 15, 2025, the plan offers five immediate-surroundings discounts, five structure discounts, a completion discount for meeting all ten, and a community discount. A dwelling fire policyholder who earns all twelve may see up to 16.4 percent off the wildfire portion of the premium.^[9] The state's Safer from Wildfires regulation makes every insurer give discounts for the same work. So whatever you do still counts after you leave the plan.^[17]

3. Price the whole stack against one policy

   A FAIR Plan policy covers fire, lightning, internal explosion and smoke; the DIC wrap that adds liability, theft and water damage is a second premium from a different insurer.^[10][18] A surplus lines homeowners policy can sometimes cover the whole home for a combined premium comparable to the FAIR Plan plus DIC. Our guides to surplus lines insurance and Delos Insurance explain the trade-offs, including the absence of guaranty fund protection.

4. Watch the clearinghouse

   Insurance Code section 10095 requires a clearinghouse through which regular insurers can review FAIR Plan policies and make offers, delivered through your broker of record; admitted insurers get the first option before nonadmitted insurers.^[19] Nobody can force you to switch, and an offer can come in at any time.

5. Cut the payment friction, not the coverage

   Pay in full or by ACH to avoid installment and card fees, and use the autopay system the plan must operate under AB 290, which also bars cancellation for declining autopay and gives installment payers a grace window.^[11][20] Don't cut the dwelling limit below what it would cost to rebuild just to save premium. If you have a loss, that shortfall comes out of your pocket.

If you believe the change on your policy was applied incorrectly, the Department of Insurance's consumer hotline takes complaints about rating as well as claims.^[21]

Should I leave the FAIR Plan because of the increase?

Leave if a regular insurer or a well-rated surplus lines carrier will write the home for a combined premium that is close to the FAIR Plan plus DIC total. Both the plan and the Department treat the FAIR Plan as a temporary last option, not a destination.^[22][21] Stay for now if you can't get anything else, or if the alternatives cost so much more that the better coverage isn't worth it. Then spend the year hardening the home so the next market search goes better. Our guide to high-risk homeowners insurance in California lays out every alternative after a nonrenewal, and the main FAIR Plan guide covers what the policy pays for.

Menlo Insurance Services is a licensed California broker and, since September 2026, a registered California FAIR Plan broker. We can't change the FAIR Plan's rates. What we can do is shop the admitted and surplus lines market for your home, place or renew the FAIR Plan policy when nothing else is available, and quote the DIC wrap or a dwelling fire policy alongside it.

This guide is for educational purposes and summarizes public California Department of Insurance filings and California FAIR Plan statements as of September 2026. Your policy's specific terms, conditions, and endorsements control. Talk to a licensed broker about your actual exposures.

The Bottom Line

The Department of Insurance approved a 29.1 percent FAIR Plan dwelling fire rate change on a 35.6 percent request in April 2026, and the plan applies it from October 15, 2026. That's an average. The wildfire part of your premium decides what happens to yours. Treat your renewal offer as your calculator and go after the hardening discounts. Compare the FAIR Plan plus DIC total with a single admitted or surplus lines policy. And have the market shopped every year until you're off the plan.