Fire risk is up and private insurers are fleeing California.
Which means more and more homeowners, especially in Orinda, are forced to resort to the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan – the “insurer of last resort” for basic fire protection for high-risk properties.
But this comes at a cost.
“In California, for example, the average cost of a FAIR Plan policy was around $3,200 per year,” said Natalie Todoroff of Bankrate, referring to the February rates for a $300,000 home. “To compare, the average cost of home insurance in the state was $1,480.”
Of course, $3 million homes are much more common than $300,000 homes in Orinda, so adding several zeroes to those numbers shows just how big a financial impact insurance costs can have on Orinda homeowners.
But that was February.
In October, FAIR plan rates are expected to increase by about 30% in Orinda, according to estimates by the San Francisco Chronicle. And according to KTVU, there are 2,000 Orinda homeowners already enrolled in the FAIR plan, and those 2,000 will see a big jump in their insurance bill.
And the number of FAIR plan enrollees is likely to go up.
Many private insurers are sending non-renewals to homes in Orinda which they deem as “high fire-risk.” This forces uninsured homeowners to the FAIR Plan, which will become even more expensive due to increased demand.
As many homeowners have already learned, private insurance agencies, such as State Farm, Farmers and Mercury, have all canceled home insurance renewals within Orinda.
In fact, Orinda was the most impacted by State Farm insurance cancellations in all of Northern California in 2024, according to insurance firm Marindependant. And as of 2026, State Farm has completely stopped issuing new policies in California, noted Chris Kissell of insurance.com.
It took action by the California Department of Insurance to require State Farm to not cancel more policies this year, though of course rates will go up. Other major insurers are still issuing new policies, but not necessarily in high-risk areas.
This means more and more homeowners in Orinda and across the state will be turning to the FAIR plan for insurance, even as its cost continues to rise. And of course, one or more major wildfires this year would push rates even higher in coming years.
