Dwelling
The structure itself, at what it costs to rebuild today. Extended or guaranteed replacement cost is worth asking for, because base limits have not kept up with construction costs.
California is the hardest homeowners market in the country. Carriers have pulled back, rates have moved, and a nonrenewal letter is now something that happens to people who have never filed a claim.
Got a nonrenewal notice?
It is not the end of the road. There is almost always a path, and it usually looks like a FAIR Plan fire policy paired with a difference in conditions policy that restores everything else.
What the policy covers
The pieces, and what each one is actually for.
Coverage A
Coverage B
Other structures
Detached garage, fence, pool house, and shop. Usually ten percent of the dwelling limit by default, which is often not enough.
Coverage C
Personal property
Contents. Replacement cost rather than actual cash value is the setting to check, and jewelry, firearms, and collectibles carry low internal sublimits until scheduled.
Coverage D
Loss of use
Somewhere to live while the home is rebuilt. In a total loss during a busy rebuild market, this is the coverage families run out of first.
Coverage E
Personal liability
Injury or damage you are responsible for, at home or away. Three hundred thousand is common and is low for most homeowners with assets.
Separate
Earthquake and flood
Both excluded from every standard homeowners policy in California. Written separately through the CEA or private markets when you want them.
Read this part
What to check on your current policy
Most people find out their policy was wrong at the worst possible moment. Five minutes now beats that.
- Dwelling limit against current rebuild cost per square foot in your county, not against what you paid for the house.
- Roof settlement basis. A depreciated roof schedule on a twenty year old roof can cost you tens of thousands.
- Wildfire or brush deductible, which is often a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat amount.
- Water damage and sewer backup, which are limited or excluded far more often than owners expect.
- Liability limit and whether a personal umbrella makes sense, which for most homeowners costs a few hundred dollars a year.
How we place a California home
Work the inputs before working the market.
Step 01
Pull the risk score
Every carrier scores your address for wildfire. We check where you land before marketing, so we approach carriers that will actually write your zone.
Step 02
Claim the mitigation credits
California's Safer from Wildfires framework requires carriers to discount for specific mitigation. Ember resistant vents, five feet of defensible space, and a Class A roof all count.
Step 03
Market the admitted carriers first
Admitted coverage is broader and backed by the state guarantee association. We exhaust that list before looking at surplus lines or the FAIR Plan.
Step 04
Build the fallback properly
If the answer is the FAIR Plan, it needs a difference in conditions policy alongside it. A FAIR Plan policy on its own leaves you with fire coverage and very little else.
What we write
Single family homesCondominiumsRentersLandlord and rental dwellingsManufactured homesHigh value homesSecond homesVacant propertyCourse of constructionPersonal umbrellaEarthquakeFlood
Not on the list is not the same as not placeable. Ask.
Questions we get
Straight answers.
My carrier nonrenewed me and I have never filed a claim. Why?
It is almost never about you. Carriers have been reducing how much wildfire exposed property they hold statewide, and those decisions get made by zone and by total exposure rather than by individual history. It is worth shopping properly rather than defaulting straight to the FAIR Plan.
Is the FAIR Plan a real policy?
It is real and it is limited. It covers fire and smoke, and largely stops there. Paired with a difference in conditions policy for liability, theft, water damage, and loss of use, it gets you back to something close to normal coverage. Never buy the FAIR Plan on its own and assume you are covered.
Do I need earthquake coverage in the Sacramento area?
It is a genuine judgment call here rather than an obvious yes. The regional risk is lower than the Bay Area, deductibles run high, and the honest question is whether you could absorb a partial loss out of pocket. We will price it and let you decide rather than push it.
More in personal lines
Next step
Send us the submission
Loss runs, current declarations, and five minutes of context. You will hear back the same business day with what we can do and which markets we are approaching.