The FAIR Plan covers fire. A DIC policy covers what it leaves out: liability, theft, water damage and living expenses. An excess policy covers the rebuild cost above the FAIR Plan's limit. Three insurers, three bills, and they have to describe one house.
How much of the hills is already on the FAIR Plan
California Department of Insurance figures for 2022, share of insured homes on the FAIR Plan by ZIP: Topanga 90290 76.2%, Bel Air 90077 46.0%, Malibu 90265 31.1%, Beverly Hills 90210 28.8%, Hollywood Hills 90046 27.8%, Calabasas 91302 12.0%, Brentwood 90049 11.8%, Pacific Palisades 90272 8.0%, against 3.2% statewide.
Non-renewal shares in 2023, of policies that came up for renewal: Topanga 21.5%, Malibu 11.1%, Beverly Hills 10.3%, Calabasas 10.2%, Hollywood Hills 10.0%, Brentwood 9.0%, Pacific Palisades 8.8%, Bel Air 8.1%, against 9.4% statewide. The ZIP lookup on this site shows the same figures for any California address.
What the FAIR Plan is, and isn't
The California FAIR Plan is the state's insurer of last resort for fire. It is a named-perils policy: fire or lightning, internal explosion and smoke, with optional add-ons, up to three million in dwelling coverage for a residential property. The dwelling form does not include personal liability, theft, water damage, or, in its base form, the living expenses a full policy pays while you are out of the house. Lenders commonly accept it as hazard coverage when the limits meet their requirements, which is why so many hillside homes end up on it with nothing else, and why the nothing else is the problem.
What a DIC policy adds
A difference-in-conditions policy is written to sit beside the FAIR Plan and cover what it excludes: liability, theft, water damage, and broader coverage for belongings and additional living expenses. The FAIR Plan does not sell one; an independent broker places it with an admitted or surplus lines insurer. The two policies have separate premiums, deductibles and renewal dates, so they must be bound together and the dates lined up, or a gap opens at the first renewal, usually the DIC's, because nobody remembers the second bill.
Above three million, many homes in these ZIPs rebuild for more than the FAIR Plan limit. An excess policy covers the rebuild cost above it, coordinated with the DIC policy so the three documents describe one house with one set of limits.
Before you accept the FAIR Plan
Two things to check before accepting a FAIR Plan quote. After a declared wildfire emergency the Insurance Commissioner can order a moratorium on cancellations and non-renewals for ZIP codes in or next to the fire perimeter, under Insurance Code section 675.1. Bulletin 2025-1, issued January 9, 2025 and amended on January 17, covered every ZIP code on this page for one year from the January 7, 2025 emergency declaration; that year ended on January 7, 2026, so a notice received now stands unless a new order names your ZIP. AB 2038, signed in September 2026, makes future moratoriums two years long from January 1, 2027. The Department of Insurance keeps the list of orders and ZIPs. And California's Safer from Wildfires standard, in force since the 2022 regulation, requires carriers that rate on wildfire risk to give discounts for ember-resistant vents, a Class A roof, a five-foot ember-resistant zone, cleared defensible space and the other listed measures, so a home that was declined two years ago may qualify again after the work is done.
Some homes also still qualify with admitted carriers: newer construction, ember-resistant vents and roofing, and the defensible space the Los Angeles Fire Department's brush clearance program requires on parcels in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, with annual inspections. Topanga, Calabasas and Malibu are under the Los Angeles County Fire Department instead, with its own clearance rules. The clearance rule in the city is specific: brush within 200 feet of structures and 10 feet of roads and combustible fences, inspected each May and June under Municipal Code section 57.322. And the FAIR Plan Clearinghouse lets an admitted insurer take a FAIR Plan policy back into the regular market, which is worth asking about every renewal.
What I do, and what I need
I check the current moratorium list for your ZIP, shop the admitted carriers that still write your street, and if they decline, bind the FAIR Plan, the DIC policy and any excess layer together with one set of dates, then send the evidence of insurance to your lender. To start: the address, the declarations page if there is one, any notice, how the title is held, and the date coverage must begin.
Common questions
Is a FAIR Plan policy enough for my lender?
Usually, for the hazard requirement, when the dwelling limit meets the loan's requirement. The DIC policy is for you: liability, theft, water damage and living expenses are not the lender's concern, but they are yours.
My rebuild cost is more than the FAIR Plan limit. Can the home still be covered?
Yes. The FAIR Plan limit applies to its dwelling coverage; an excess policy covers the rebuild cost above it, coordinated with the DIC policy so the three documents describe one house.
Can I buy the DIC policy from the FAIR Plan?
No. The FAIR Plan writes only its own policy. A difference-in-conditions policy comes from a separate admitted or surplus lines insurer, through a broker.
How fast can this be set up?
The FAIR Plan has its own application and its own timing, so start before the current policy ends. A non-renewal notice gives at least 75 days; the 75-day plan on this site gives the order of steps.
General information about FAIR Plan and DIC insurance in Los Angeles hillside areas as of October 2026, not legal advice. Department of Insurance figures are by ZIP code for 2020–2023 and FAIR Plan 2022; FAIR Plan limits, moratorium orders, brush clearance rules and fire hazard maps change. Check your parcel's zone with your fire agency. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.