"A leading consumer group is proposing a policyholder rights initiative that would require insurers to offer coverage to California homeowners who fireproof their homes - or lose the right to sell home or auto insurance in the state for five years. The Insurance Policyholder Bill of Rights was filed with state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta's office last week by Consumer Watchdog, the Los Angeles advocacy group whose founder Harvey Rosenfield authored Proposition 103, the 1988 initiative that governs California insurance law."
"The initiative for the November 2026 ballot also would give policyholders not renewed by their insurer 180 days to make home repairs and improvements necessary for renewal if they face unavoidable permit, construction and other delays. Insurers can seek six-month waivers of the rule in certain geographic areas but would need to show they have an overconcentration of risk there. The proposed initiative comes after insurers began pulling back from the California market a few years ago after a spate of wildfires and began seeking double-digit rate increases."
Consumer Watchdog filed the Insurance Policyholder Bill of Rights with the state attorney general seeking a November 2026 ballot measure. The initiative would require insurers to offer coverage to homeowners who fireproof their homes or face a five-year prohibition on selling home or auto insurance in California. Policyholders denied renewal would receive 180 days to complete necessary repairs and improvements when permit, construction or other delays are unavoidable. Insurers could seek six-month waivers in areas with demonstrated overconcentration of risk. The measure follows insurer pullbacks and double-digit rate increases after recent wildfires and must clear a high signature threshold to reach the ballot.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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