Do any insurance professionals care to make a prediction?
Big expansion of the FAIR Plan. However, since FAIR plan is funded soley by the carriers that write business in the state, drastic legislation will be needed to fix this and CA will surely mess it up.
I'm thinking of all the insurance agents who saw the majority of their book-go up in flames. Most captive agents, write majority of policies in their metro area. Be prepared for a great exodus of people leaving CA. Because the fire risk and the years it will take to rebuild. I had a few HH move to my state after the Paradise Fires,mwhich were devastating, but a much smaller # of people were involved.
I'm a California independent agent and broker. This event is the most catastrophic I've seen and it's not over.
Prediction on insurance market conditions - companies have pretty much not done much new business since July 2023. FAIR Plan and surplus lines have picked up the slack. Markets, including E&S will tighten up even more and the FAIR Plan will have to deal with solvency issues. The state is in a budget deficit and has no ability to prop up the FAIR Plan so I see the feds having to be called in. A permanent solution will take years to implement because we have feckless state level leadership.
