California FAIR Plan Association

What California FAIR Plan Association does

California FAIR Plan Association is a private, statutorily-created insurance pool established in 1968 under California Insurance Code sections 10090 et seq. that functions as the state's insurer of last resort for basic fire insurance. All property/casualty insurers licensed to write basic property insurance in California are mandatory members, and the association is governed by a committee with participation proportional to each member's California market share. It serves California residential property owners (1–4 unit dwellings, condos, rentals) and commercial entities (habitational, retail, manufacturing, offices, farms, and wineries) that cannot obtain fire coverage in the voluntary market, distributing exclusively through licensed insurance brokers and agents. Coverage is intentionally basic—named-peril fire, lightning, and smoke—and is structured to be a temporary safety net rather than a comprehensive alternative, with supplemental earthquake coverage offered via the California Earthquake Authority and recommended Difference in Conditions (DIC) policies from private carriers.

Name

California FAIR Plan Association

Legal name

California FAIR Plan Association

Website

https://cfpnet.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

California's statutorily-created insurer of last resort, providing basic fire insurance to residential and commercial property owners unable to obtain coverage in the voluntary market, distributed exclusively through licensed brokers across California.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Property Insurance

NAICS

Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Carriers (524126), Insurance Carriers (5241)

SIC

Fire, Marine & Casualty Insurance (6331)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAJAHAD

Aviation Liability Insurance (Passenger & Third-Party)

Financial & Insurance/Insurance — Motor, Property & Casualty/Marine & Aviation Insurance

Keywords

• Fire insurance
• Property insurance
• Insurer of last resort
• Wildfire insurance
• Commercial fire coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Insurance Premiums: FAIR Plan generates revenue through premiums collected on dwelling and commercial fire insurance policies sold to property owners unable to obtain coverage in the voluntary market. Total written premium reached $2.02B as of March 2026.
2. Market Assessment: By statute, the FAIR Plan can assess all admitted insurers licensed in California to help pay for losses. Assessments are based on each insurer's California market share from two years prior. The FAIR Plan requested a $1 billion assessment in February 2025 following LA wildfires.
3. Catastrophe Bonds: FAIR Plan secured a $750 million catastrophe bond (Golden Bear transaction) to enhance ability to pay claims after future disasters and reduce likelihood of assessing the voluntary market.
4. Reinsurance: FAIR Plan accesses reinsurance coverage (up to $5.78 billion limit) to help pay claims. Reinsurance is accessed after meeting deductible thresholds ($900 million deductible plus copays).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The California FAIR Plan Association is California's statutory insurer of last resort for basic fire insurance. It provides Dwelling Fire Policies for residential properties (up to $3 million) and Commercial Fire Policies for businesses (up to $20 million per location) when coverage is unavailable in the voluntary market. Policies are sold exclusively through licensed brokers after a documented diligent search of traditional carriers.

Product overview

The California FAIR Plan Association operates as California's insurer of last resort, providing basic named-peril fire insurance policies through two core products: the Dwelling Fire Policy for residential properties (up to $3 million coverage) and the Commercial Fire Policy for businesses (up to $20 million per location). These policies serve as temporary safety net coverage when property owners cannot obtain insurance from traditional carriers. The product portfolio is designed to provide essential fire coverage only, with supplemental coverage options available through partners: earthquake coverage through the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), and Difference in Conditions (DIC) policies through voluntary market insurers. The FAIR Plan also offers wildfire hardening discounts to encourage property mitigation. The clearinghouse program helps transition policyholders back to the voluntary market when coverage becomes available.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dwelling Fire Policy

Quantifiable outcome

• Total exposure of $750 billion across 684,388 policies as of March 2026
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Zesty.aicoreTechnology or Integration · 11 August 2021FAIR Plan selected Z-FIRE, Zesty.ai's predictive wildfire risk model, as its wildfire risk solution after evaluating multiple solutions. The model is trained on more than 1,400 wildfire events across 100 years of California wildfire history. FAIR Plan entered into a five-year agreement to use Z-FIRE for every new quote and property in its portfolio. The partnership enables more accurate premium pricing that reflects property risk and rewards homeowners for mitigation efforts.
• MillimancoreTechnology or Integration · 11 August 2021FAIR Plan worked with Milliman to assess the predictive power of the Z-FIRE model to differentiate between best and worst risks and improve FAIR Plan's ability to price wildfire risk. Milliman produced a white paper on the Zesty.ai risk score model.
• Aon plcminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 11 August 2021Aon leveraged its strategic alliances to introduce the California FAIR Plan to Zesty.ai, facilitating the partnership that resulted in the Z-FIRE wildfire risk model adoption.
• California Earthquake Authority (CEA)minorOthersFAIR Plan offers earthquake coverage through CEA as a separate policy for customers with a California FAIR Plan Dwelling Fire policy. Coverage available for dwellings, condominiums, renters, and mobile/manufactured homes.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Florida Citizens Property Insurance Corporation: Florida's state-created insurer of last resort, providing property insurance to homeowners and businesses unable to obtain coverage from voluntary carriers after hurricanes. Operates a similar residual-market mechanism to California FAIR Plan with member assessments and depopulation goals.
• California Earthquake Authority (CEA): California's publicly managed, privately funded earthquake insurance pool — a structural sibling of the FAIR Plan, jointly administered and offering earthquake coverage as an add-on to FAIR Plan dwelling policies. Operates under a similar residual-market mechanism with member assessments.
• New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association (NYPIUA): New York's residual-market mechanism providing basic property insurance in areas where voluntary carriers withdraw due to catastrophe exposure. A direct peer in the broader state FAIR Plan / residual-market insurance ecosystem.
• Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association: Massachusetts' state-created residual-market mechanism for basic fire and extended coverage insurance. Operates with the same fundamental model as California FAIR Plan — pooling risk across all licensed carriers to provide last-resort coverage.
• North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (Beach Plan): North Carolina's residual-market wind and hail insurance pool for coastal properties. Functions as a state-mandated facility providing basic property coverage to high-risk coastal dwellings — directly analogous to California FAIR Plan's role for wildfire-exposed properties.
• Texas FAIR Plan Association: Texas's residual-market property insurance pool for wind and fire coverage when the voluntary market won't write risks. Operates under a structurally similar model to California FAIR Plan, providing basic named-peril coverage in catastrophe-exposed geographies.
• Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation: Louisiana's insurer of last resort for residential and commercial property, particularly in coastal hurricane-exposed areas. Shares FAIR Plan's residual-market DNA: statutory creation, member assessments, and depopulation into voluntary market as primary objective.

Others

• Munich Re: One of the world's largest reinsurers and a likely participant in FAIR Plan's $5.78B reinsurance tower. Comparable as a catastrophe risk-bearing capital provider rather than as a primary coverage peer, but materially relevant for understanding FAIR Plan's capital structure and pricing benchmarks.

Broad incumbents

• Lexington Insurance (AIG): Lexington Insurance is a major U.S. excess and surplus (E&S) lines carrier under AIG that writes high-hazard property risks (including wildfire-exposed properties) that standard admitted carriers decline. Comparable to FAIR Plan's high-risk book though serving via the voluntary E&S market rather than as an insurer of last resort.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/california-fair-plan-assn

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about California FAIR Plan Association