Californians are routinely told things about their insurance that stopped being true, or were never true. These are the rules with real force behind them — a 75-day notice before a non-renewal, a 30-day deadline for an insurer to re-score a hardened home, at least 60 percent of the contents limit, up to $350,000, after a declared-disaster total loss without an itemised inventory, at least 24 months of additional living expenses, and workers' compensation reaching every licensed contractor in 2028. Each is cited. If a carrier or an agent tells you otherwise, the code section is the answer.
75 days' notice before a non-renewal
An insurer that decides not to renew a residential property policy in California generally has to give written notice at least 75 days before the policy expires, with the reason. Until that expiration date the existing policy stays in force exactly as written.
The practical consequence is that the notice is a shopping window, not an eviction. Underwriters in specialty and surplus lines markets often want inspections, photographs and documents before they will quote, so a home that is placeable with ten weeks of notice can be genuinely hard with ten days. The 75-day action plan turns the date on your notice into dated steps.
An insurer has 30 days to re-score a hardened home
This is the rule almost nobody knows, and it is the one that can change a declination into an offer. Under California's mitigation and wildfire-model regulation, admitted residential insurers must reflect specified wildfire mitigation in their rating. Once a homeowner has done the work and asks for an updated wildfire risk score, the insurer must provide one within 30 days.
Whether and how the work is verified is the insurer's call: the Department of Insurance's FAQ on the regulation says verification follows the underwriting process the insurer has filed, and an insurer may simply accept what the policyholder states on the application. If you disagree with the score that comes back, the regulation gives you a right to appeal it, and the insurer must answer in writing within 30 calendar days.
The work that counts is specific: a Class A fire-rated roof, ember-resistant vents, enclosed eaves, five feet of noncombustible clearance immediately around the structure, defensible space maintained to 100 feet, and dual-pane or tempered windows. At community level a Firewise USA or Fire Risk Reduction Community designation counts too.
The same framework brought catastrophe models into California ratemaking. Verisk's wildfire model was the first to complete the Department of Insurance's review, in 2025, and an insurer using a catastrophe model in its rates has to commit to writing at least 85 percent of its statewide market share in the high-risk ZIP codes. That is the trade: sharper risk pricing in exchange for staying in the neighbourhoods carriers had been leaving.
60% of the contents limit, without an inventory
After a covered total loss of a primary dwelling in a declared state of emergency, if the home was furnished, the insurer must offer a contents payment of no less than 60 percent of the policy limit for personal property (contents), up to $350,000, without requiring an itemised claim. The base is the contents limit, not the dwelling limit. The insurer may ask you to sign an attestation that the home was furnished and that you reasonably believe what you lost was worth at least that much.
The figures are new. SB 495 raised the floor with effect from January 1, 2026, and every policy form issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2026 has to comply with the amended section, so an adjuster quoting a lower figure is behind the statute.
People who have just lost everything are asked to list, room by room, what they owned. This rule exists so they do not have to in order to receive a substantial first payment. It is a floor, not a ceiling — an itemised claim can be made for more, up to the contents limit.
At least 24 months of additional living expenses
For a loss relating to a declared state of emergency, coverage for additional living expenses must run for at least 24 months from the inception of the loss, subject to other policy provisions. An insurer must grant an extension of up to 12 further months, to 36 in total, where an insured acting in good faith and with reasonable diligence hits delays outside their control — permit delays, unavailable materials, no available contractors.
Worth knowing before you need it: after a total loss in a declared emergency the insurer must, if you ask, advance at least four months of living expenses. After that advance period the rest is paid on proof, and it covers the increase over your ordinary cost of living. Keep the receipts from the first night, and keep a note of what you normally spend.
Workers' compensation reaches every licensed contractor in 2028
Today five classifications must carry workers' compensation with or without employees: C-8 concrete, C-20 HVAC, C-22 asbestos abatement, C-39 roofing, and C-61/D-49 tree service. Everyone else with employees needs it; a true sole proprietor with nobody working for them generally does not.
SB 216, signed in 2022, extends the requirement to all licensed contractors and applicants regardless of classification and regardless of employees, with limited exceptions. SB 1455, signed in 2024, moved the date to January 1, 2028 and directed CSLB to tighten how exemption claims are verified. Six questions will tell you whether it reaches your licence now or then.
Balcony inspections and the HOA liability threshold
Two rules bite on condominium and homeowner associations. Under Civil Code section 5551, added by SB 326, associations had to have exterior elevated elements such as balconies inspected by January 1, 2025, and at least every nine years after that.
Separately, Civil Code section 5805 ties an owner's protection from tort claims against the association to the association carrying general liability of at least $2 million for developments of 100 or fewer separate interests, or $3 million above that. How the master policy and an owner's HO-6 divide up.
Two smaller ones people get wrong
- The California Boater Card. Since January 1, 2025 it is required of every operator of a motorised vessel on state waterways, regardless of age. It is not insurance, and it does not satisfy a marina's insurance requirement. What marinas and lenders actually require.
- The mature driver discount. California requires insurers to give a discount to drivers 55 and older who complete a DMV-approved mature driver improvement course, and the certificate is good for three years. It is one of the very few discounts written into law and it is claimed far less often than it could be.
Common questions
Does a non-renewal mean my house is uninsurable?
No. It means one carrier will not continue. The order to shop in is admitted carriers first, then surplus lines, then a FAIR Plan policy paired with a difference-in-conditions policy. The 75-day notice exists so there is time to work through that order.
If I harden my home, does my premium definitely drop?
Not necessarily. The insurer must reflect qualifying mitigation in its rating and must give you an updated wildfire risk score within 30 days of your request, and the regulation requires disclosure of the premium reduction associated with mitigation actions. What I see more often than a headline discount is a change in eligibility — a property that was being declined becomes one a carrier will quote at all.
Do I have to itemise everything I owned after a total loss?
Not to receive the first substantial contents payment. After a total loss in a declared state of emergency, the insurer must offer at least 60 percent of your personal property (contents) limit, up to $350,000, without an itemised claim. You can still itemise for more, up to the contents limit.
How long does the insurer have to pay for somewhere to live?
For a declared-disaster loss, at least 24 months, extendable by up to 12 more months where reconstruction delays are outside your control, subject to the policy's other terms.
I am a one-person contractor with no employees. Am I affected in 2028?
Yes, unless you fall within a limited exception. From January 1, 2028 the requirement reaches all licensed contractors regardless of employees. If you hold C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 or C-61/D-49 it already applies today.
Sources
- California Insurance Code section 10103.7 (contents after a declared-emergency total loss)
- California Insurance Code section 2060 (additional living expenses)
- California Insurance Code section 2061 (advance of living expenses after a declared-emergency total loss)
- California Department of Insurance: FAQ on Mitigation in Rating Plans and Wildfire Risk Models
- California Department of Insurance: notice on significant laws for residential property policies in a declared state of emergency
- CSLB: workers' compensation requirements for contractors
- California Civil Code section 5551 (exterior elevated element inspections)
- California Civil Code section 5805 (association liability coverage thresholds)
General information as of September 2026, not legal advice. Rules, programs and carrier appetite change; confirm current requirements before relying on them. Coverage depends on the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.