Big Increase in Premiums Ahead, Says Fair Plan, California’s Last-Resort Insurer

California homeowners insured by the Fair Plan will soon see a “substantial” increase in premiums after a flood of new policies issued by the last-resort insurer. “In order to bring our rates up to the right level, there’s going to be a substantial increase. That’s as much as I can share,” Fair Plan President Victoria Roach told lawmakers at an April 25 Assembly Insurance Committee meeting. In 2021 the Fair Plan, which provides basic coverage when other insurers aren’t available but charges a high premium for it, had about 3 percent of all policies in the state, amounting to around 268,000 policies, according to the California Department of Insurance. Now the plan covers about 373,000 policies, making it one of the largest insurers in the state, officials said at a March committee meeting....