Data and Analysis on Wildfires and Insurance
Wildfires are a reality for many Californians, and by analyzing multiple data sets over several years the Department can identify trends affecting the insurance market. Data and its objective analysis have driven actions by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara focused on preserving available and affordable insurance options for homeowners and businesses. As the state regulator, with statewide jurisdiction, the Department can provide unique datasets that promote public understanding of insurance market trends, empowering local jurisdictions and consumers with important statewide or local context for decision-making. The Department collects data from insurance companies, and in some cases directly from California businesses, and makes it available through our public website directly to the public, the Governor’s Administration and Legislature, and other stakeholders. The Department will continue to update this web page as new data and analysis becomes available. Data questions related to this page can be directed to: ClimateStudies@insurance.ca.gov. Policyholders and members of the public may direct questions relating to specific cancellation, non-renewal, or other insurance transactions to our Consumer Services Division Help page.
Residential data: Annual Insurance Policy Count Data
Since 2018, the Department has released annual counts of new, renewed, and non-renewed homeowners and dwelling-fire policies in each ZIP code in California to better inform analyses of statewide and geographical trends in the residential insurance market. Annual counts of California FAIR Plan (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements plans) policies and overall counts of surplus lines policies are also released.
- Fact Sheets afford the Department an opportunity to review multi-year trends in policy counts among residential insurance policies.
- County-level breakdowns of new, renewed, and non-renewal data provide a more specific information for each of California’s counties.
- ZIP Code-level breakdowns of new, renewed, and non-renewal data.
Statewide Commercial Insurance Data Survey, with an emphasis on agriculture
To inform strategies for increasing the availability of agricultural insurance and additional types of commercial insurance, the Department collected coverage limits, premiums, losses, and claims related to wildfires from admitted insurance companies.
- View the fact sheet on commercial insurance (released October 2021)
Wildfire Risk Information Reporting
Report and Data File including fire and wildfire related losses, segmented by wildfire risk score, collected from admitted insurance companies every two years. The Report is produced pursuant to California Insurance Code Section 929.
Percentage of Residential Structures Insured under a FAIR Plan Policy
The data included in the link below was provided by California admitted insurers and the FAIR Plan that wrote residential insurance pursuant to California Code of Regulation Title 10, Section 2646.6. The table provides the percentage of residential structures insured under a FAIR Plan policy by ZIP code. ZIP codes with less than 5 structures insured were excluded.
Data is for calendar year 2022 and includes homeowners (excluding condominium), mobile home, dwelling fire owner- and tenant-occupied insuring structures with 4 or less units. Condominium complexes and structures of 5 or more units are insured under a commercial policy and are excluded.
Percentage of Dwelling Units by County in High to Very High Wildfire Risk
The data reported in the link below was developed by CDI based on a combination of multiple modeler estimates to calculate a weighted average of dwelling units in a high or very high risk score. Based on the overall number of dwelling units in each county estimated by the Department of Finance, the percentage is calculated by dividing the weighted average of dwelling units by the overall dwelling units in each county.
Home and Community Hardening Incentives
The regulations require that insurance companies give discounts to residential and commercial policyholders under the Safer from Wildfires Framework.
Find Insurance Companies That Write in Higher Fire Risk Areas
The Home Insurance Finder allows you to search for insurance companies and licensed agents/brokers who have been identified to sell homeowners, renters, condominium, or mobile home insurance. You can narrow your search to insurance companies that may write in higher fire risk areas.
