Between September 2022 and September 2026 the FAIR Plan's policy count went from 1,264 to 13,495 in Contra Costa County and from 2,956 to 12,791 in Alameda County, by the FAIR Plan's own figures. A non-renewal notice has to reach you at least 75 days before the policy expires. I use those days to shop admitted carriers, then surplus lines, then the FAIR Plan with a DIC policy, and I quote earthquake cover alongside.
Why the hills are hard to insure
CAL FIRE's list of the twenty most destructive wildfires in California has several entries from the Bay Area and its edges. The Tunnel Fire in the Oakland hills, October 1991, burned 1,600 acres, destroyed 2,900 structures and killed 25 people. The Tubbs Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties, October 2017, burned 36,807 acres, destroyed 5,636 structures and killed 22. The Nuns Fire in Sonoma the same month, the Glass Fire in Napa and Sonoma in 2020 and the CZU Lightning Complex in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties in 2020 are on the list too. Every underwriter looking at a hillside address here has those events in the model.
The State Fire Marshal maps Fire Hazard Severity Zones in three classes: moderate, high and very high. Cities can enlarge the zones but cannot shrink them, and Oakland did enlarge its own. When the 2024 state maps would have made Oakland's Very High zone smaller, the City Council voted on June 17, 2025 (Ordinance 13851) to extend it over the whole Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area. The Oakland Fire Department inspects about 26,000 hills parcels there every year, and an owner who fails has 45 days to correct the problems. A passed inspection record is something I can hand an underwriter, so keep it.
What the FAIR Plan numbers show
The FAIR Plan publishes its policy counts by county (residential, commercial and business owner's policies together). From September 30, 2022 to September 30, 2026:
- Contra Costa1,264 to 13,495 policies
- Alameda2,956 to 12,791
- Sonoma2,628 to 8,907
- Santa Clara1,435 to 6,415
- Marin1,281 to 4,940
- San Mateo841 to 4,122
Statewide the count went from 273,346 to 686,376 over the same four years.
The FAIR Plan calls itself a temporary safety net, and its dwelling policy is a named-peril form: fire and lightning, internal explosion and smoke, with vandalism available as an option. It has no liability, theft or water damage cover. A difference-in-conditions policy from a separate insurer fills those gaps; the FAIR Plan does not sell one. The Department of Insurance lists the residential limit as three million dollars, so a larger hills home needs an excess layer on top. The three policies have to share dates and describe the same house, and lining them up is my part of the work.
Earthquake is a separate decision
The U.S. Geological Survey puts the chance of at least one magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake in the Bay region between 2014 and 2043 at 72 percent. By fault, it is 33 percent for the Hayward or Rodgers Creek faults and 22 percent for the San Andreas. The last large Hayward earthquake was in 1868, and trenching in Fremont found twelve large ones over about 1,900 years, spaced roughly 100 to 210 years apart.
A homeowners policy does not pay for earthquake damage. Insurance Code section 10081 requires every residential property insurer to offer the cover, and a California Earthquake Authority policy is bought through your residential insurer. As CEA states its terms, the dwelling deductible is 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 percent of the dwelling limit, and the 5 and 10 percent choices are not available to homes with a dwelling limit above one million dollars or to pre-1980 frame houses off a slab foundation without a verified retrofit. Loss of use carries no deductible. A retrofitted older house on a raised foundation can earn a CEA premium discount of up to 25 percent. A home on the FAIR Plan can still buy a CEA policy, because the FAIR Plan is a participating CEA insurer. I compare CEA against private earthquake policies when the deductible is the sticking point.
Your rights when the notice arrives
Insurance Code section 678 requires a non-renewal notice at least 75 days before the policy expires, with the specific reason and the insurer's phone number for complaints. If the notice comes late, the policy stays in force on its existing terms for 75 days from the day the notice was sent. The notice must also tell you about the Department's Home Insurance Finder and the FAIR Plan.
Two more checks. Under section 675.1, after the Governor declares a wildfire emergency, insurers cannot cancel or non-renew a residential policy for one year in ZIP codes inside or next to the fire perimeter just because a fire happened there; the Commissioner's bulletin for each fire lists the ZIP codes, and the Department keeps the list on its moratorium page. As of November 2026 the orders that covered the 2020 lightning complexes around the Bay have run their year. And the Department's Safer from Wildfires list (Class A roof, a five-foot ember-resistant zone, ember-resistant vents, enclosed eaves, multi-pane windows, defensible space and the rest) earns a discount for each step, including on the wildfire part of a FAIR Plan premium. If you think the insurer got it wrong, the Department takes complaints at 800-927-4357.
What I need to quote
The non-renewal notice and the current declarations page, the address, year built and square footage, roof type and age, foundation type and any retrofit paperwork, the latest vegetation inspection result if you are in a city that inspects, how the title is held, and the date the old policy ends. With the notice and the declarations page I can start the same day; I ask for the rest as the underwriters ask me.
Common questions
Who insures homes in the Oakland and Berkeley hills after a non-renewal?
Admitted carriers may still write a hardened home with a clean record, surplus lines insurers are the next stop, and the California FAIR Plan with a difference-in-conditions policy is the fallback. I work those three in that order during the 75-day notice period.
Why was my Bay Area home insurance non-renewed when I never filed a claim?
Usually because of where the house sits: a fire hazard zone, brush or slope nearby, or the insurer cutting its exposure in the area. Section 678 requires the notice to state the specific reason, so read that line first.
Do I need earthquake insurance on a Bay Area home?
It is your choice: the law makes insurers offer it, not owners buy it. But the homeowners policy excludes earthquake and the USGS puts the regional odds of a magnitude 6.7 or larger quake by 2043 at 72 percent. It is a separate policy with a percentage deductible, so the question is how much of the dwelling limit you could carry yourself.
Can I get earthquake coverage if my home is on the FAIR Plan?
Yes. The FAIR Plan offers California Earthquake Authority policies to its dwelling policyholders as a separate policy.
Does the FAIR Plan cover theft, water damage or liability?
No. Its dwelling policy names fire, lightning, internal explosion and smoke; a difference-in-conditions policy from another insurer adds theft, water damage and liability.
Does home insurance in the Bay Area cover flood?
No. Flood is a separate policy, from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer, and an NFIP policy normally starts 30 days after purchase unless it is bought with a new or renewed mortgage.
General information about home insurance in the San Francisco Bay Area as of November 2026, not legal advice. FAIR Plan counts are the FAIR Plan's own county figures as of September 30 of each year and include commercial policies; earthquake probabilities are from USGS Fact Sheet 2016-3020; CEA terms, moratorium orders, fire hazard maps and carrier appetite change. Check your parcel's zone with your city or county fire agency. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.