California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced the enforcement of a regulation aimed at expanding insurance coverage in wildfire-prone areas of the state, where insurers have fled and homeowners have struggled to find coverage in recent years.
The head of California’s Department of Insurance (DOI) said Friday the state will now allow insurers to use catastrophe models to determine rate increases in hopes of stabilizing the market. In turn, insurers will be required to increase comprehensive coverage in fire-prone areas to at least 85% of their market share.