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State insurance outreach analyst outlines wildfire-related reforms, grant programs and FAIR Plan concerns
Summary
Judith Piena of the California Department of Insurance briefed La Habra council on wildfire-driven market pressures, proposed legislation (including AB 888, SB 876 and bills to reform the FAIR Plan), grant programs to help low-income homeowners harden homes, and efforts to speed claims and improve smoke-damage standards.
Judith Piena, an outreach analyst with the California Department of Insurance, told the La Habra City Council that the state—aces mounting insurance market pressure driven by more frequent wildfires, rising rebuilding and reinsurance costs, and that some insurers have stopped writing new policies. "When disasters increase globally, while that cost also goes up," Piena said, explaining why insurance companies have reduced coverage and raised rates. She said the department has recovered "over 23,000,000,000, for consumers, and about 50,000,000 of that was related to smoke damage."
Piena outlined several legislative and programmatic responses the department is supporting. She described the California Home Grant Program (referred to in the presentation as Assembly Bill 888) that would provide grants to low-income homeowners in high fire-hazard areas to fund roof and window upgrades and defensible space. She also summarized pending bills referenced in the briefing (including SB 876 and measures the presentation cited as AB 17,95 and AB 1680) aimed at improving claims handling, creating science-based smoke-damage standards, strengthening FAIR Plan oversight, and requiring insurers to maintain disaster recovery plans. On accountability, she said insurers licensed in California "have to follow California law," and the reforms include penalties and operational requirements to speed claim payments and expand coverage.
Council members pressed on local impacts and enforcement. A deputy sheriff asked how the laws would prevent insurers from denying coverage after a major fire; Piena said the bills would require insurers to plan for emergencies, speed claim handling, and face doubled penalties for unfair practices under some measures. Piena closed by pointing residents and staff to consumer resources and a department hotline and encouraged signing up for consumer alerts with fact sheets and webinars the department provides for local outreach.
