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A nonrenewal on a California business policy ends coverage on the expiration date, not on the day the letter arrives. Use the notice period to get the business quoted and bound with an effective date on or before that day. A mid-term cancellation is a different notice, and the number of days depends on the reason.
No. On a commercial policy covered by Insurance Code section 675.5, a nonrenewal means the insurer will not continue the policy when the term ends. Coverage runs through the expiration date, not the day the letter arrives. Section 678.1 requires written notice at least 60 days, and not more than 120 days, before the policy period ends. Use that window to bind a replacement with an effective date on or before expiration. A mid-term cancellation is a different letter, and its notice depends on the reason.
For the commercial policies section 678.1 covers, the insurer gives written notice at least 60 days, and not more than 120 days, before the policy period ends, if it will not renew or if it will renew only with reduced limits, dropped coverages, higher deductibles, or a rate increase past the threshold that section sets. The notice goes to the producer of record and to the named insured at the mailing address on the policy, and it states the reasons. If that notice is late, the policy continues, with no change in its terms or conditions, for 60 days after the insurer gives the notice.
Section 678.1 applies to commercial insurance as section 675.5 defines it, including commercial property and liability for a business, a professional practice, or a nonprofit. Workers' compensation is outside that definition. Its renewal sits on our workers' compensation renewal page. A work truck or fleet is a separate policy on the commercial auto page.
After the policy has been in effect more than 60 days, or immediately if it is a renewal, section 676.2 says a cancellation notice is effective only when it follows section 677.2 and rests on a listed ground that happened after the policy took effect. Section 677.2 requires at least 30 days' notice before the cancellation date, except nonpayment of premium or fraud, which require no less than 10 days. The notice states the effective date and the reasons, and it goes to the named insured and to the producer of record when that producer is not an employee of the insurer.
Section 676.2 lists the grounds. They include nonpayment of premium, a judgment that the named insured violated a law whose elements include an act that materially increases an insured risk, and fraud or material misrepresentation in obtaining the policy or in a claim. They include willful or grossly negligent acts, or safety-law violations, that materially increase a risk, and failure to carry out loss-control terms the insured agreed to when that failure materially increases a risk. They include commissioner determinations about reinsurance or solvency, and a change in the business's activities or property that materially changes the risk unless the policy already includes it. After the 60-day mark, a cancellation outside that list is not an effective notice under the section.
A certificate shows a policy that is in force on the date the client or landlord asked for it. A nonrenewal leaves the old policy in force until the expiration date, so the replacement has to be bound on or before that day if the certificate has to stay continuous. A mid-term cancellation ends on the effective date printed in the notice. How additional-insured wording is read is covered on our subcontractor certificate page.
Business nonrenewal callback. Leave a name and a phone number. A licensed agent at Insurance City Agency, LLC · CA Lic #6003045 will call about a California commercial nonrenewal or mid-term cancellation. Or call 209-670-1556.
California surplus line insurance is outside the commercial-insurance definition in section 675.5, so the notice periods in sections 678.1 and 677.2 are not the rules for that placement. Section 1763 lets a surplus line broker place coverage with a nonadmitted insurer only when it cannot be procured from admitted insurers that actually write that type of insurance in this state, after a diligent search. Section 1764.1 requires a disclosure that the insurer is not licensed by the State of California, is not under the same solvency regulation as California licensed insurers, and does not participate in the insurance guarantee funds California law creates.
Section 1760 lets a home state insured effect insurance with a nonadmitted insurer. Section 1763 treats three declinations from admitted insurers that write that type, or a finding that fewer than three write it, as prima facie evidence of the diligent search. The section 1764.1 disclosure is signed and also printed on the policy. Read it before the placement is bound. Insurance City Agency, LLC · CA Lic #6003045 uses the callback to learn which admitted market, if any, already declined.
A nonrenewal ends the policy at the close of the term. A cancellation ends it on a date in the middle of the term. On the commercial policies section 675.5 covers, section 678.1 is the nonrenewal notice, and sections 676.2 and 677.2 are the mid-term cancellation rules. The auto glossary uses different statutes. Our cancellation versus nonrenewal glossary is the auto version. This page stays on the business property and liability contract.
A renewal offer that cuts limits, drops coverages, raises deductibles, or moves the rate past the threshold in section 678.1 uses that same 60-to-120-day notice. It is not a cancellation. The current term still runs to expiration unless a separate mid-term notice ends it sooner.
Match the letter in your hand to one row. The day counts are the ones sections 678.1 and 677.2 state for the commercial policies those sections cover. Workers' compensation and a surplus line policy are outside that set.
| Situation | What it means | Time to act | What to send |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonrenewal | Coverage ends on the expiration date, not today | Notice at least 60 days and not more than 120 days before the period ends, with the reasons | The notice and the current declarations |
| Mid-term cancellation for nonpayment or fraud | The policy ends on the cancellation date in the notice | No less than 10 days before that date, under section 677.2 | The notice, and any proof tied to the payment or the fraud statement |
| Mid-term cancellation for another listed ground | Allowed only for a section 676.2 ground that arose after the policy took effect, once the policy is past 60 days or is a renewal | At least 30 days before the cancellation date | The notice, including the reason it states |
| Renewal with a rate past the statutory threshold, or with fewer limits, dropped coverages, or higher deductibles | The insurer will continue only on those changed terms. The current term still runs to expiration | The same 60-to-120-day notice in section 678.1 | The renewal offer and the expiring declarations |
The day counts above are the statute. This list is only the working order for the first stretch of business days after the letter, so a contract does not outlast the policy.
Send the notice, the current declarations pages, loss runs, a description of operations, payroll and sales estimates, and any contract or lease insurance requirements. Do not add figures that are not on those papers. Insurance City Agency, LLC · CA Lic #6003045 reads the file from the form on this page or at 209-670-1556. The business insurance hub is the same request if that page is already open.
La guía para quien busca me cancelaron el seguro de mi negocio, no me renovaron la póliza comercial, o un aviso de no renovación de seguro comercial.
Sources, October 24, 2026: Insurance Code section 675.5; section 678.1; section 676.2; section 677.2; section 1760; section 1763; section 1764.1.
Insurance City Agency, LLC · CA Lic #6003045. Call 209-670-1556 or use the form for a California commercial nonrenewal or cancellation.
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