CA Fair Plan Hearings

Insurance Commissioner Poizner Announces Hearings to Examine Availability of Homeowners Insurance and Fair Plan Concerns in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

Seeks Feedback from Wildfire Survivors, Insurers and Consumer Groups

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced that the Department of Insurance will hold hearings for Santa Barbara and Los Angeles residents to discuss any concerns they have with the availability of private homeowners insurance and the Fair Plan.

Commissioner Poizner invites all stakeholders to attend the hearings so that he may gather information and feedback from policyholders, insurance agents and brokers, consumer groups and Fair Plan representatives. The Commissioner will use information gathered in the course of the hearing process to determine any recommendations he may make to improve the availability of private homeowners insurance in wildfire areas, and how Fair Plan policies are assigned.

Location of the August 19 hearing:
Ronald Reagan Building
300 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA

Location of the August 25 hearing:
Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Hearing Room
County Administration Building
4th Floor
105 East Anapamu Street
Santa Barbara, CA

for more information:
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/0080-2009/release083-09.cfm

CA Fair Plan Insurance Tip

Many residents in The Meadows have California FAIR Plan Fire Insurance. When reviewing a homeowner policy, FAIR Plan may decide to add a surcharge to your policy because of inadequate brush clearance or excessive distance from the nearest County Fire Station.
If you believe that your brush clearance is adequate and you have received a brush clearance surcharge in error, you may contact the L.A. County Fire Department, Forestry Division, Brush Clearance Unit at 626-969-2375. A brush clearance coordinator can meet you onsite to confirm code compliance and take photos. If your property is in compliance, the Forestry Chief can write a letter confirming compliance with the fire code for you to use in an appeal of the brush clearance surcharge. Please note that you are not required to clear more than 200 horizontal feet on your property, nor are you required to clear another owner's adjacent property within that 200 feet.

If FAIR Plan is adding a surcharge based on excessive distance from the nearest County Fire Station, please contact the L.A. County Fire Department's Division III office at 661-254-9668. It is sometimes possible to create a Memorandum of Understanding with contiguous first responders in other cities to mitigate this issue. For complete information go to the CA FAIR Plan Website http://www.cfpnet.com/.