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California insurance official briefs Corona on wildfire reforms, grants and smoke‑damage rules
Summary
A California Department of Insurance outreach analyst explained proposed and pending state measures to stabilize the homeowners insurance market after wildfire losses, including mitigation discounts, AB88 grant proposals for low‑income homeowners, AB1795 smoke‑damage standards and legislation to modernize the Fair Plan and speed claim payments.
The California Department of Insurance briefed Corona’s council and staff on April 15 about market changes and a suite of proposed reforms aimed at helping homeowners recover from wildfires and improving insurer behavior.
Judith Pña, an outreach analyst who said she serves as the department’s local liaison, told the meeting that the state is seeing higher rebuilding costs, more frequent disasters and rising reinsurance prices that have driven some carriers to stop writing policies. She described two parallel approaches: incentives for home mitigation (discounts for fire‑resistant upgrades) and regulatory changes that let insurers use forward‑looking catastrophe models while requiring them to write a share of new policies in higher‑risk areas.
On legislation, Pña summarized several active proposals: AB88 (a safe home grant program to help low‑income homeowners pay for mitigation measures such as roofs and double‑pane windows), AB1795 (creating science‑based standards and testing guidelines for smoke damage and restoration), SB876 (streamlining claims and strengthening consumer protections with status updates and expanded living‑expense coverage), and AB1680 (a "Make It Fair" bill to modernize and strengthen oversight of the FAIR Plan). She also described outreach tools and consumer resources — a 1‑800 hotline, in‑language one‑pagers and statewide education sessions — and encouraged cities to help promote grant and program enrollment.
“By law, if you take steps to mitigate your home, your insurance company is required to give you a discount,” Pña said, while noting discounts range by carrier and that mitigation can be costly for homeowners on fixed incomes.
Why it matters: Local residents in fire‑affected regions face higher premiums and coverage gaps; the proposed programs aim to expand mitigation grants for low‑income homeowners and establish clearer smoke‑damage standards to speed recoveries.
What’s next: Pña left informational folders and a QR code linking to legislation status and enrollment information, and said the department welcomes city partnership on outreach and public education.
