If your homeowners insurer leaves California or stops writing new policies, keep the policy you have until a replacement is bound. A company exit is not a mid-term cancellation under Insurance Code §676, and it is not a nonrenewal you started. Section 676 allows cancellation only for listed grounds such as nonpayment, fraud, or a physical change that makes the property uninsurable. Leaving the market is not one of those grounds. For a policy expiring on or after July 1, 2020, §678(c) requires at least 75 days' notice of nonrenewal, with the specific reason, and §678(e) requires the Department notice naming the California FAIR Plan and a DIC policy. Place an admitted HO-3 before that date. Use the FAIR Plan plus a DIC wrap only if admitted insurers decline the house. Call (209) 670-1556.
Read whether the letter nonrenews you, offers a renewal with changes, or only stops new customers. Keep the current term in force. If a renewal offer arrives, Insurance Code §678(a) requires it to state any reduction of limits or elimination of coverage and to identify the specific limits.
If the letter is a nonrenewal, mark the expiration date. Section 678(c) requires delivery or mailing at least 75 days before expiration for a policy expiring on or after July 1, 2020, with the specific reason. If the notice is late, §678(c)(2) keeps the policy in effect, unchanged, for 75 days from delivery or mailing.
Do not cancel the term to start clean. Many mortgages require continuous hazard insurance. If coverage lapses, the lender may buy a policy. That price is the lender’s, not a Department schedule, so it is not quoted here. Call (209) 670-1556 while the old term is in force. A valley house in Stockton and a hillside house in San Jose can get the same letter the same week. The Department fact sheet of January 13, 2025 lists “companies exiting the market” among insurer-started reasons, beside wildfire risk, bad application information, and claim history. If the reason is the roof, the claims, or brush, and the company is still writing other California homes, use homeowners insurance after a nonrenewal. That page is the personal nonrenewal. This page is the company-exit path.
A cancellation ends the policy before expiration. A nonrenewal refuses the next term. A company exit usually arrives as the second. Section 675 covers these notices for a residence of not more than four units. After 60 days, or immediately on a renewal, §676 makes a cancellation effective only for nonpayment, a conviction that increases a hazard, fraud or material misrepresentation, grossly negligent acts that substantially increase a hazard, or a physical change that makes the property uninsurable. Leaving the market is not on that list. Section 677 requires a written notice naming the §676 ground and, on or after July 1, 2020, the Department review line: insurance.ca.gov, 1-800-927-HELP (4357), Consumer Services Division, 300 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013.
The January 13, 2025 fact sheet says past research puts 75 to 80 percent of nonrenewals with policyholders and 20 to 25 percent with insurers, including “companies exiting the market.” That range is the past research, not a second 2023 tally. Appendix A records 788,485 voluntary-market residential policies non-renewed or canceled in 2023, about 98 percent of that market, excluding renters and condominiums. Section 1070 is a formal withdrawal: surrender of the certificate of authority. A company that only stops new homeowners business often has not surrendered that certificate and can still renew. If you sold the house or switched on your own, use the nonrenewal guide.
| What happened | What the statute treats it as | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| New business stopped, and a renewal offer still arrives | A §678(a) renewal offer. It must state any cut in limits. | Keep the term and read the offer before you assume the house is uninsured. |
| The company exits and nonrenews you | A nonrenewal. Seventy-five days under §678(c), plus the §678(e) FAIR Plan notice for a residential policy expiring on or after July 1, 2021. | Admitted HO-3 first. FAIR Plan plus a DIC wrap only if admitted insurers decline. |
| You started the nonrenewal | Policyholder-started. Past research: 75 to 80 percent of nonrenewals. | Use the personal nonrenewal guide, not this page. |
| Canceled before expiration | Only a §676 ground, with a written §677 notice. | The exit itself is not that ground. The review path is the Department. |
The bridge is the consumer notice on the nonrenewal: normal market first, then the FAIR Plan, then a DIC policy for the fire-form gaps. For a residential policy expiring on or after July 1, 2021, §678(e) requires that notice, or a substantially similar one under §678(f). It points to the California Home Insurance Finder, checked October 5, 2026, which lists companies and appointed licensees by ZIP Code and language, including a higher-fire-risk filter. The Finder’s disclaimer says a listed company is licensed for the line and still may not accept new business.
Section 10090 states the FAIR Plan chapter’s purposes: market stability, basic property insurance, maximum use of admitted insurers and licensed surplus line brokers, and a FAIR Plan for qualified property that cannot get that coverage in the normal market. Section 10095(e) requires the plan to steer people to those normal channels first. The Department’s residential page says the same: FAIR Plan after a diligent search, including after a turndown or nonrenewal.
The §678(e) notice says an agent or broker submits a FAIR Plan application, gives the plan’s website and toll-free number, or obtains an admitted or nonadmitted policy. It also states there is no additional cost for using an agent or broker to buy a FAIR Plan policy. That sentence is the FAIR Plan notice in the statute, not a statement about any other policy fee. Section 10095(h) requires the insurer that denies, cancels, or nonrenews to give the plan’s website and statewide number. The Department’s FAIR Plan page, checked October 5, 2026, lists 800-339-4099. If the insurer’s answer is not enough, §678(a) points to insurance.ca.gov, (800) 927-HELP (4357), and 300 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013.
According to FAIR Plan statistics, checked October 5, 2026, policies in force were 696,562 as of June 2026. The 2025 fact sheet put new and renewed FAIR Plan policies at 3.7 percent of new and renewed residential policies in 2023, up from 3.1 percent in 2022. See the California FAIR Plan guide.
Save the declarations page and request the loss history while the company still answers. You want the named insured, address, form, dates, deductible, mortgagee, and the limits for dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments. If a renewal offer cuts a limit, save both versions. Section 678(a) requires the offer to identify what was reduced. HO-3 parts are on California homeowners insurance. What an HO-3 does not pay is on what homeowners insurance does not cover.
Ask in writing for recorded personal information and a letter of claims on the policy. Section 791.08 gives the insurer 30 business days after a properly identified written request to describe that information, let you see or copy it, disclose recent recipients when recorded, and explain corrections. Section 791.08(d) allows a reasonable copy fee and sets no statewide dollar amount, so none is stated here. Section 791.08(f) limits access when the file was collected for a claim or a proceeding. Our intake also asks about claims over roughly five years. That window is our request, not a figure in §791.08. Add year built, square footage, roof, and electrical, plumbing, and heating updates. Wildfire mitigation, with dates, is covered on home insurance in a wildfire zone.
Admitted market first. The FAIR Plan is the backstop when that market declines the house. That order is §10090(c), §10095(e), and the Department’s residential page. An admitted insurer writes under a California certificate. An HO-3, when one accepts the house, is open-peril dwelling coverage subject to the form’s exclusions, named-peril personal property, plus loss of use, liability, and medical payments. Call (209) 670-1556 with the packet.
One exit does not close the admitted market. According to Appendix A of the January 13, 2025 fact sheet, the counted voluntary market renewed 7,576,693 residential policies in 2023 and issued 724,037 new ones, beside 788,485 nonrenewals and cancellations. If the house is already on the FAIR Plan, §10095(i) requires a clearinghouse so admitted insurers can offer homeowners policies, with an opt-out on sharing personal information. The in-force how-to is leaving the FAIR Plan for one policy.
Surplus lines are not the opening move. Section 1763(a) allows a nonadmitted placement only after a diligent search of admitted insurers that actually write that type in this state. According to the Department’s FAIR Plan page, checked October 5, 2026, the residential limit is $3 million per location. The same page says a broader FAIR Plan policy covering water, liability, theft, and additional living expenses without a separate DIC is in progress and is not for sale today.
The wrap still applies when the replacement is a FAIR Plan dwelling policy or another named-peril fire policy. It does not stand in for an admitted HO-3. The Department’s residential page says the FAIR Plan covers fire or lightning, internal explosion, and smoke. Extended coverage and vandalism may be added for an additional premium. Theft and liability are why a DIC is considered. The FAIR Plan dwelling page calls the form a named-peril policy and points to difference-in-conditions, flood, or earthquake policies for more complete property coverage. Earthquake and flood are not the DIC’s job.
The Department’s DIC list says those products complement a FAIR Plan policy so the pair resembles a traditional homeowners policy, and that the list is not for DICs that add perils to a traditional HO policy. The gap, peril by peril, is what the FAIR Plan does not cover. According to the January 13, 2025 fact sheet, there is about one new or renewed DIC policy for every two new or renewed FAIR Plan policies, and from 2020 through 2023 DIC counts ran approximately 115,000 below the FAIR Plan count. An exit onto the FAIR Plan does not retire the wrap. Keep the term, gather the declarations page and loss history, place an admitted HO-3 if one is available, and pair the FAIR Plan with a DIC when the fire policy is what binds.
Keep the current policy until a replacement is bound. A company exit is not a mid-term cancellation under Insurance Code section 676, and it is not the same event as a nonrenewal you started. For a policy expiring on or after July 1, 2020, section 678(c) requires at least 75 days' notice of nonrenewal. Place an admitted HO-3 before that date. The California FAIR Plan plus a DIC policy is the backstop if admitted insurers decline the house. Call (209) 670-1556.
A cancellation ends the policy before expiration and, after 60 days or on a renewal, is effective only for a ground listed in section 676. A nonrenewal means the insurer will not offer the next term, and section 678 sets the notice. A company that leaves the market, or that stops writing new business and then nonrenews you, shows up as that nonrenewal, not as a section 676 cancellation. A nonrenewal you start, for example because you sold the house, is a different event. The Department of Insurance fact sheet published January 13, 2025 says past research puts policyholder-started nonrenewals at 75 to 80 percent and insurer-started nonrenewals, including companies exiting the market, at 20 to 25 percent.
No. A pause on new customers is not, by itself, a cancellation of the policy you already have. The term continues. If the company sends an offer of renewal, section 678(a) requires that offer to state any reduction of limits or elimination of coverage. If it sends a nonrenewal instead, the 75-day rule in section 678(c) applies. Do not cancel the policy yourself to get ahead of the letter.
Save the declarations page, the exit or nonrenewal letter with the specific reason section 678 requires, and a loss history. Insurance Code section 791.08 gives the insurer 30 business days, after a written request and proper identification, to let you see or copy recorded personal information it holds about you. Our intake also asks for year built, square footage, roof, updates, and claims going back about five years. That five-year window is our request, not a number in section 791.08.
You still need a DIC wrap when the replacement is a California FAIR Plan dwelling policy or another named-peril residential fire policy. The Department of Insurance says the FAIR Plan covers fire, lightning, internal explosion, and smoke, and that theft and liability are reasons to consider a DIC. A DIC wrap is not the stand-in for an admitted HO-3 you were able to place. The Department's DIC list complements a FAIR Plan policy. The Department says that list is not a list of DICs meant to add perils to a traditional HO policy. Earthquake and flood stay separate policies.
Contact the insurer first, using the phone number the notice must display. If you remain unsatisfied, section 678(a) says you may have the matter reviewed by the Department of Insurance at insurance.ca.gov, (800) 927-HELP (4357), Consumer Services Division, 300 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013. A wrongful-cancellation review line with the same phone and address is in section 677(a)(3).
La misma guía, en español de California: la diferencia entre una compañía que se sale y una no renovación suya, el puente del Plan FAIR, la página de declaraciones y cuándo la DIC todavía aplica.
Admitted HO-3 first. FAIR Plan plus a DIC wrap if admitted insurers decline. English and Spanish. Stockton, San Jose, and San Rafael, and by phone statewide.