California Insurance Commissioner Takes Action Against ‘FAIR Plan’ — 3 Years Too Late

California Insurance Commissioner Ricard Lara announced Thursday that he is taking action against the so-called “FAIR Plan” for inadequate coverage for smoke damage due to fires — three years after investigating it.

The FAIR Plan is California’s “insurer of last resort,” the privately-run but publicly-mandated fire insurance plan for residents who cannot find coverage in the ordinary insurance market. The FAIR Plan offers bare-bones coverage that often does not compensate homeowners fully for their losses.

The terms of the FAIR Plan are so uncharitable, and its operations so opaque, that many homeowners have taken to calling it the “Un-FAIR Plan,” especially because of the way that many have been required to use it.

Thousands of households in fire-prone areas of California have been forced onto

Continue reading