Solano County homeowners with FAIR plan insurance likely to get rate hike

Solano County homeowners on California's FAIR plan, the insurance plan of last resort, are likely to receive a substantial rate hike, with rates going up an average of 29 percent in October.

Rates for the state's Fair Access Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan - one of the largest home insurance plans in California - will change starting Oct. 15. The changes are not across the board, but vary based mostly on wildfire risk, and will not go into effect until a homeowner's policy is renewed.

There were 1,337 residential households with FAIR Plan policies in Solano County as of March 31, according to the plan website.

Of that number, 360 were in the four main ZIP codes for Vallejo, 94589, 94590, 94591, and 94592. The two main ZIP codes for Fairfield, 94533 and 94534, had 517 FAIR Plan policies of all categories.

There were 123 policies in 94510, the main ZIP code for Benicia.

These numbers represent the number of policies, though it is reasonable to extrapolate to households. These numbers account for most of the county's insurance policies, though not all.

"In Solano County, we have a lot of areas where homes are backed up against open space," which insurance companies tend to see as a wildfire risk and can make it hard for a homeowner to get an insurance policy, according to Jeanne Kilkenny-Turk, who owns and runs Vallejo Insurance Associates along with Tom Atwood.

The FAIR Plan offers policies to individuals who can't get private insurance because their properties, often located in high-risk wildfire zones, are seen as too risky by traditional carriers.

Though it's not likely, some homeowners might see a rate decrease.

"The largest component of the increase relates to the wildfire portion of policyholders' premiums, so those policyholders whose properties are at significant wildfire risk will see a higher increase than those at lower risk, and some policyholders will see a premium decrease," a spokesperson for the FAIR Plan said in a statement.

The FAIR Plan offers discounts for those who perform wildfire mitigation work on their homes.

"The plan is doing significant discounts for homeowners who harden their homes. I have one client who has cleaned the brush from around their home and made other changes, and they received a substantial discount," Kilkenny-Turk said.

Policyholders may qualify for up to 12 discounts applied to the wildfire portion of the policy premium.

Five discounts are applying to the immediate surroundings, including clearing vegetation and debris from under decks; removing vegetation, debris, mulch, and other combustible materials from within five feet of the building; and keeping trees surrounding the house trimmed and brush and debris removed from the yard.

Structure discounts include having a Class-A fire-rated roof, which means that it is made out of fire-resistant materials such as stone, concrete, or clay tile; has enclosed eaves; or has multi-paned windows or functional shutters.

More details are available on the FAIR plan website.

For people who are having trouble getting policies renewed or getting a new policy, in a hopeful note, Kilkenny-Turk said some carriers are beginning to "open up a little bit. Some of the preferred carriers are coming back, and it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel."

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