California Passes Landmark Home Insurance Protection Bills to Curb Non-Renewals and Delays

Fire survivors and consumer advocates have welcomed the passage of three home insurance consumer protection bills by the California legislature. The bills, authored by Senator Ben Allen and Senator Sasha Renee Perez and sponsored by Consumer Watchdog and the Every Fire Survivor's Network, now head to the Governor for signature. Reporting indicates Governor Newsom has until 30 September to sign.

The three bills:
SB 1301 (Senator Ben Allen) protects policyholders from unexplained and abrupt non-renewals by requiring more notice before loss of coverage, specific disclosure of the reasons a policyholder may be dropped, and an opportunity to make repairs to keep coverage where possible. It also prohibits non-renewal based on filing certain claims, or on the age of a homeowner's roof alone.
SB 878 (Senator Sasha Renee Perez) strengthens existing law on claim delays, requiring insurers to respond to claims in writing and on time, and penalising late payment of undisputed claims.
SB 877 (Senator Sasha Renee Perez) requires greater transparency from insurers in how loss estimates are determined.

Joy Chen, Eaton Fire survivor and executive director of the Every Fire Survivor's Network, said "insurance determines whether fire survivors can rebuild, and that the bills restore a basic promise."

Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, said "arbitrary claims delays and unjustified non-renewals strip consumers of the financial security insurance is meant to provide."

Background figures from the sponsors' earlier statements: roughly 70 per cent of Los Angeles fire survivors report that insurance delays and underpayments are impeding their recovery, and close to one million Californians have been pushed onto the high-cost, low-benefit FAIR Plan or into unregulated surplus lines in recent years.