LOS ANGELES — January 7 — The California FAIR Plan recognizes that many communities continue to feel the lasting impacts of the devastating Eaton and Palisades wildfires nearly one year ago. The FAIR Plan team remains focused on helping customers recover from these catastrophic fires and other wildfires that impacted the state in 2025 – and preparing to meet the needs of policyholders in the event of future disasters.
As California’s independent, not-for-profit insurer of last resort, the FAIR Plan steps in when voluntary market insurance options are unavailable. Thousands of homeowners impacted by the horrific Los Angeles fires had coverage through the FAIR Plan.
While addressing unprecedented claim volume, the FAIR Plan worked diligently to support impacted homeowners, handling approximately 5,400 claims from the Eaton and Palisades fires and paying nearly $3.5 billion to policyholders. The FAIR Plan is working through the final portion of remaining claims, including claims that were previously closed and later reopened as rebuilding and inspections continued.
Looking ahead, the FAIR Plan has taken steps to enhance its ability to serve policyholders when the next wildfire strikes and reduce the likelihood of assessing the voluntary market to ensure all covered claims are paid. The FAIR Plan has secured a line of credit and is maintaining a robust reinsurance program, augmented by a $750 million catastrophe bond. Securing better financing helps to ensure that the FAIR Plan will have resources to pay claims after disasters, which increases stability and confidence in the insurance market and encourages healthy competition and choice.
Additional measures taken to help prepare for future events include implementing mandatory broker training, restructuring claims operations, increasing transparency through enhanced website disclosures, and collaborating with the California Department of Insurance (CDI) to update the dwelling policy form to reflect current claims-handling practices.
As the CDI’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy takes hold, the FAIR Plan remains committed to helping policyholders return to the voluntary market. At this point, however, its continued growth – now placing it among the state’s largest residential property insurers – reflects ongoing strain in the voluntary market. The FAIR Plan exists as a temporary safety net, and in collaboration with policymakers and the CDI, it is working to help stabilize the market, support consumer choice, and ensure coverage remains available for those who need it most.
For more information about the California FAIR Plan, visit cfpnet.com.
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About the California FAIR Plan
The California FAIR Plan is a private association comprised of all insurers licensed to write property insurance in California and is funded primarily through the policies it sells to customers. The FAIR Plan is not a state agency and is not funded by the state or other public agencies.
The FAIR Plan offers basic property insurance for all Californians who cannot access coverage in the voluntary insurance marketplace. As an insurer of “last resort,” the FAIR Plan was established by statute to provide a temporary safety net for consumers who need fire insurance until coverage through the voluntary market is available. For more information, visit cfpnet.com.
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The above information can be attributed to the California FAIR Plan.