California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and a group of state lawmakers are pushing a 10-bill legislative package designed to improve disaster preparedness and help protect wildfire survivors.
The bills intended focus are on consumer protection, climate resiliency and market strength.
Among the proposals are a statewide grant program to assist with wildfire hardening, protections for businesses against insurance non-renewals and measures to maximize insurance claim payouts by limiting public adjuster fees.
The bills are:
- The California Safe Homes Act authored by Assembly Member Lisa Calderon provides state-tax-free funds to assist residents in purchasing fire-rated roofs and to develop non-ignition zones around properties. The act would establish a grant program at the California Department of Insurance using existing funds.
- The Business Insurance Protection Act, jointly authored by Senators Sasha Renée Pérez and Susan Rubio, aims to extend existing protections by broadening the commissioner’s ability to issue an insurance non-renewal and cancelation moratorium after emergency declarations following wildfires to include commercial policies, covering businesses, homeowners’ associations, condominiums, affordable housing units and non-profits.
- The Insurance Payment Protection Act (AB 597, authored by Assembly Member John Harabedian) is designed to ensure that wildfire survivors receive the maximum funds from their insurance claims. The establishes a 15% cap on fees for adjuster-contracted work and prohibits any additional awards outside the contract.
- Eliminate “The List” Act authored by Senator Ben Allen requires insurers to pay wildfire survivors 100% of their contents coverage without requiring a detailed inventory list. It also grants consumers at least 180 days to provide proof of loss following a declared state of emergency.
- The California Community Fire Hardening Commission Act, jointly authored by Senators Susan Rubio, Dave Cortese, and Henry Stern, proposes the creation of an independent statewide commission within the CDI. This commission, to be chaired by the insurance commissioner, is designed to develop a more effective inspection system that enables individuals to receive insurance discounts for home hardening.
- The Deceptive Disaster Relief Advertising Act (AB 637, authored by Assembly Member Heath Flora) is intended to address issues after major disasters in which consumers are often exposed to misleading advertisements claiming to provide legal or recovery services. The bill requires that advertisements on social media, traditional broadcast media, and digital streaming platforms clearly display the statement: “This is a solicitation for business. Not affiliated with any government entity or non-profit.
- The California Wildfire Public Model Act authored by Senator Dave Cortese establishes the a public catastrophic model for wildfires.
- The Insurance and Wildfire Safety Act (AB 1, authored by Assembly Member Damon Connolly) requires future insurance commissioners to assess the need for updates to the Lara’s Safer from Wildfires regulation based on new fire science and public input.
- The FAIR Plan Stability Act (AB 226, jointly authored by Assembly Members Lisa Calderon and David Alvarez) aims to strengthen consumer safeguards by allowing the FAIR Plan to access catastrophic bonds through the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank.
- The Savings Accounts for Mitigation and Catastrophes Act (AB 232, jointly authored by Assembly Members Lisa Calderon and Mike Gipson) creates a tax-exempt savings account for consumers. This account allows consumers to set aside funds specifically for home hardening and insurance deductibles in the event of a disaster.
Bills without numbers have yet to be formally introduced, but they will be by Feb. 21, according to the CDI.