California FAIR Plan Reviews

The California Fair plan has sent me an invoice every month after the due date. They received the first two payments electronically through the website and then miraculously said the 3rd month payment was returned and I was never notified that they didn't receive the 3rd payment until I called in response to an invoice I received on the 10th that was due on the 6th, that didn't show non-payment, just a different payment amount for the remaining half of the total annual premium. When I asked why the invoice did not match the website balance or my monthly payment amount, they said the August payment was returned; not according to my bank. The CFP website says my payment was made but they show an amount due of the entire annual premium. No explanation. There is a disclaimer on the front page of CFPs website saying the payment portal is experiencing difficulties and they will contact us when it's fixed???

I hope whoever approved the new website "upgrade" has been fired. It is the worst website I have ever used. It lacks everything. A year later they still have not done any updates that would help producers. Even the payment system is horrible. If you try to call them, be ready to be on hold for quite a while, and even the reps don't know what's going on. Their old system was actually working just fine!

Worst ever!!! There is no set payment date each month - it keeps changing and I don’t get a reminder to pay until the day before or of - this month I’m being asked to pay twice, once on the 14th (which I paid on the 3rd) and now tomorrow on the 28th. If I don’t pay AGAIN on the 28th they will cancel me and then I’ll lose my mortgage! It’s impossible to get ahold of any customer service to get any answers. This reeks of SCAM but they’ve got everyone at their mercy.

No communication. No customer service. On holds for over 4 hours, then nothing. California politicians have destroyed our ability to get fairly priced home insurance. Good Insurance companies are no longer doing business in California! Cancelling policies as due date comes up.

I sent this to my county supervisor, State Assembly and Senate representative to express my distain and sincere frustration with the California Fair Plan. My Wildfire Risk Score in one year, has changed from level 8 to 9 and from High to Very High with NO CHANGE IN ANYTHING AT MY SITE. While it indicates on the notice that if I disagree with the wildfire scores assigned, you may appeal the scores there is no place that I could find on the notice or the web site to make that appeal and phone waits are excessive .Because of this change and a general increase, my Wildfire Premium went from $4,500 approximate in 2023 to $7,738 this year, 2024. Factoring in a small added charge for vandalism etc. the premium will end up being about $10,000. This does not include a separate policy for water damage and liability which will be about $1,200. All this is with a $20,000 deductible!

I’ve been on hold for 4 hours trying to contact them about our plan expiration.. This is worse than trying to reach Social Security or Unemployment..I can’t believe the total lack of response. Ca. Fair Plan didn’t send a renewal notice to us or our mortgage company..Unbelievable.

This basically robbery and increasing your mortgage up to at least 1/3rd of what you are paying for just owning the house. I was dropped by my insurer and forced to buy this "Policy". The house is over 40 years old and never had a claim filed. The Fire station is less than a mile from my home and we have a fire hydrant nearby.

I feel like a class action lawsuit against the California Fair Plan is in order. It's anything but fair and they are price gouging. Any lawyers out there want the case? We need to stick together as California home owners and say enough is enough!! PG&E caused some of these fires. Not only are they raising rates, but we are left paying for their screw up. Should be called the California Unfair Plan.

CA Fair Plan is terrible. They do not take autopay. They mail statements to you when payment is due and since you cannot pay monthly (I guess they just changed this) you have to pay very close attention to when you get a letter. Don't miss a payment, there is no grace period, they will drop you immediately. When you renew expect to pay double what the old policy price was. I am not exaggerating at all. This happened to us. They say they follow industry guidelines, but I know of no insurance company that does not take autopay or have some kind of grace period. Right now my yearly premium for fire only is almost as much as I paid for my complete coverage for my house and cars 3 years ago. That's how much insurance in CA has gotten. I have no claims on anything in 30 years but my rates have tripled in only 3 years.

Why do I need a broker to get CFP!? Both the Broker and CFP are charging me a policy. The broker is $1400 and CFP 4x as much. Not so "Fair Plan" is it. Talk about taking advantage and something to get look at by legal matters.

My problem is the California Fair Plan itself. The cost of housing is becoming more and more out of reach for most people in this country and in California it’s ten times worse due to the fact that the California fair plan is price gouging Californians out of the real estate market. They have increased the price of fire insurance year over year and many people are not able to afford these exorbitant prices. Not to mention the fact that California homeowners on a fixed income are at a substantial risk for losing their property because of the CFP. I have purchased property in California and the mortgage payment is $2500 a month. Between the California fair plan and county taxes I will be paying over $4000 a month for this property. It is completely unacceptable that the California fair plan is over $550 a month. With no competition, they have basically been allowed to charge any amount of extortion that they want, and Californians are paying the price with loss of livelihood and housing.

Policy established by my abusive, chronically criminal ex, "NO BROKER", because, as just has been discovered recently, he's in the real estate/insurance game. Clerks have refused to provide me information or to confirm with me before approving changes he makes, like "revert to 1st mortgage", March 2023. And the mortgagees are based on unauthorized usage of my "public trust" identity, forging my appellation (name), and insider schemes, facts all being revealed with claims and charges in pursuit.

Their service overall should receive negative stars if that was possible. The worst service for a company touching so many of any company in California today. The California insurance market is trouble to say the least, this is known by most by now. Years and years of fires, rising costs of claims, inflation, regulatory issues are among the many problems. The California FAIR plan's purpose is to be there when others cannot or will not offer coverage. Their policy is a fire policy not a full Home or Commercial policy. They have made some product improvements that are positive. That's the good...and it ends there.

Not only does CA Fair Plan take over 2 hours for someone to answer their calls, and when they do answer they can't even help! All they state is "I'll send this over to the underwriter". I have an endorsement request since January 31, 2024 I'm yet to get a response, I called twice about this situation, sent emails and still waiting, it's ridiculous how much time it's taking them. Even for an application approvals, I'm on week three now with nothing to offer the client. It's a nightmare!

Me and my Fiancé are currently trying to buy a home. All our paperwork was together in a timely fashion except our insurance. California Fair Plan is the only insurance available but it's been weeks since we applied and got approved. We have been waiting for the payment portal to be available so we can pay for the insurance plan we were approved for. Our property was supposed to close two days ago on the 26th. We are now out of escrow due to the CA Fair Plan and may lose this house. We have requested the seller extend the escrow but we don't even know what this timeline is for when we will be able to pay for our plan so it's impossible to know how long to request to extend for. On top of that there is another buyer making a larger cash offer which we now might have to compete with. This is an absolute nightmare.

When we moved to the mountains our insurance quote was 4x the cost we were paying in the small town we lived in. This was 6 years ago and a private insurance company. Since then our rates have increased at least 20 percent each year and forced into the Fair plan. Now at almost 10k a year for Cal unfair and an additional 2k for the wrap it is like someone is holding us hostage. The state of California is not doing what it should to protect consumers from this gouging that is going on. Where does it stop? Almost doubled in one year. That's just crazy. And if you do apply for any discounts, good luck on getting any response. It's been 6 months since we applied and just crickets except the renewal for double the last policy. California is pricing themselves out of the market for middle class.

California DOI forces private carriers out of the state, requiring CFP. 7 consecutive days of myself and my staff waiting on hold for 5+ hours at a time and not one of us have connected with a person. At this point, the state should just automatically be responsible for all claims on uninsured properties since they have no option for us.

Response time for underwriting approval is 7-10 business days. We have been waiting for over 30 days for approval and may fall out of escrow due to no insurance coverage. They don’t answer their phones, been on hold for over 6 hours numerous times to be disconnected. No one is there to pick up the phones. This private insurance company is not owned by the state but by numerous private insurance companies and the only company who will insure the policy. There are no words to explain how outrageous this is. Beyond words… Shame on you CFP.

First…I am writing this after trying for 2 days to talk to Customer Service. Yesterday I waited 1.5 hours to talk to rep. But Call dropped. Started earlier today and I’ve been waiting for over 2 hours. Argh! They sent me a cancelation notice for missing their 3rd installment date. Complaint 2? They don’t give you a date that the 3rd installment is due. You either pay all at once or installments. Complaint 3 = They have no “monthly” billing either (even though the insurance commissioner demanded it). Lastly, they make it extremely difficult to get a “Firewise” discount. One would think an incentive to harden a home/community is win/win. It’s not when they don’t even answer the phone nor have a way to submit required documentation online.

We just bought our house last year. They doubled our insurance to cover fire. It’s a monopoly of insurance companies under this. Not only do we have to pay Farmers but now this. Why is nothing being done! They are going to hurt homeowners.

I've been paying $3k a year and until this year, I have never filed a claim. The massive storms caused around $3k of damage to a heater vent and cricket. I was denied, because CFP deemed the damage was due to snow not wind. Why would I renew? READ your policies carefully as the wording has changed the last year or two.

I pay $4,288 to Cal Fair and $1,818 to Farmers Ins. Cal Fair is a monopoly; there is no other choice but this wildly expensive insurance for much reduced bare minimum coverages. The insult added to injury is the requirement to also purchase "normal" h.o. insurance (In my case Farmers). For additional coverage, at no detectable lower premium cost. Since 2017 their premium has actually increased!

I rebuilt my home after Tubbs fire. It is incredibly defensible with cement board, metal roof, fireproof hardscape, and two 10,000 gallon water tanks and hydrant. I pay ten times the normal insurance for less coverage. This is a rip-off. I am struggling to stay in my home and have done everything I can to keep it safe from fire. I am not in a forest or surrounded by any trees. I just have an unlucky zipcode. If I stayed during the last fire to put out embers with a garden hose, I would not have lost my home. So, I am stuck with the Fair Plan, but the cost is draining me.

Again anything that’s run by the state California is completely corrupt. Not only are the insurance companies not held accountable, after collecting payments then selectively pulling out of certain area considered high risk. Now the new “California corrupt plan” Dramatically changing its price structure without notice increases of 35 to 40%.

This plan seems anything but FAIR. It is a complete rip off. They have set this up so certain properties require CA Fair Plan endorsement for insurance which doubles the cost of insurance. I had no problem getting fire insurance, but the property required this nonsense endorsement. Prior to this con game, homeowner's insurance in my area covered fire at about $1800 per year. Now with this FAIR endorsement, it is $4400 per year. This is just ripping people off and should not be allowed.

Anything but fair. We lost everything in the Caldor fire. After 4 months we have yet to get our money!!! We entered into a “Good Faith” agreement and they have yet to settle. Don’t use them. They suck!

The insurance covers for fire, internal explosion and external vandalism. Homeowners pay $1,166 per year, and it is a compulsory program which provides fair access to people who find it very difficult in insuring their property. The insurance is governed by board which includes the California insurance commissioner and insurance company executives. This year, 2021, it gave a fat discount for people to be involved and applied. One can apply directly or through a broker. Usually properties are inspected when completing your application form. Based in inspection, you may be advised to put in place fire extinguisher or at times clearing brush from property.

We had wind damage in Feb 2021. It's now late June 2021 and is still unresolved. I had 25 K in damage and the Fair Plan wants me to settle for 11.5 K. Dominique ** is my CFP rep. If you get this guy, God help you. He sound smooth and competent but If he is talking - he is lying. The claims process has been 1000% more traumatizing than the wind damage.

I have a cabin in the mountains. I have it insured with California FAIR Plan because it is a mountain cabin. Other companies like State Farm, Farmers, etc. will not insure it. I have been using California Fair Insurance for about 14 years, always pay on time and have never made a claim. I just received my policy billing for 2021 and found that they have increased my policy billing by over 55.5% over what I paid in 2020. As a comparison, this new rate makes my payment 198% the amount I pay for my primary home which is twice the size of the cabin and carries far more coverage.

When continuously getting cancelled or my rate tripling by other insurance companies, I was able to get covered by the Fair Plan. They did send an inspector out to the property and we were notified to replace the roof and paint the house and do wood repair. We were given 6 months to get the jobs completed, but then COVID hit, which caused delays. I emailed requesting an extension and a week later they gave us another month to complete the job. I sent off the documents to them via email, and my rate was renewed at the same rate. I appreciate being able to get this coverage considering the option of losing my home due to not being able to get insurance elsewhere.