The California Insurance Safety-Net System That Lost a Million-Dollar Check

Customers of the state-chartered Fair Plan face problems including canceled policies, refusals to treat toxins from smoke and dire customer service

By Jean Eaglesham and Nicole Friedman of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"homeowners and consumer advocates, who have reported problems including refusals to treat toxins from smoke, delayed payments and dire customer service. 

Fair Plan, California’s state-chartered insurer of last resort, has taken on an outsize role in the aftermath of the infernos. Originally set up as a backstop for hard-to-insure areas, it became the only option for hundreds of thousands of homeowners in the years before the fires.

It more than doubled its number of policyholders—and tripled its exposure to losses—in a little over three years. Fair Plan filled the gap as commercial insurers such as State Farm canceled policies citing the threat of wildfires and regulated premiums that weren’t keeping pace with the risk."