Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara ordered insurers to maintain residential property coverage for more than 147,000 California policyholders following the Gifford Fire, after Gavin Newsom issued an emergency declaration on December 23.
The directive applies across Kern, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties.
The mandatory one-year moratorium bars insurance cancellations and non-renewals for homes located within or adjacent to 29 ZIP Codes tied to the wildfire perimeter.
The protection applies regardless of whether a property suffered direct damage and runs for twelve months from the date of the Governor’s declaration.
The order was issued through a formal bulletin from the California Department of Insurance and activates statutory authority designed to stabilize insurance access after declared wildfire disasters.
According to Beinsure, these moratoriums have become a central tool in California’s attempt to keep homeowners insured as wildfire exposure escalates.
Lara said the action is intended to ease pressure on residents already dealing with displacement, recovery, and uncertainty. The moratorium, he said, buys time while broader insurance availability is restored in high-risk regions.
The Commissioner’s authority to impose these protections traces back to legislation he authored in 2018 while serving in the state senate.
The law allows temporary relief from insurance non-renewals and cancellations for residents living within or near a gubernatorial-declared wildfire emergency, extending beyond cases involving total property loss.
During 2025, these moratorium provisions protected more than 1.2m homeowners statewide. Consumers who lost coverage before the emergency declaration and now face difficulty securing insurance, or who remain dissatisfied with existing policies, are encouraged to seek assistance from the Department of Insurance to review available options.
Lara linked the latest action to his Sustainable Insurance Strategy, a reform agenda aimed at stabilizing California’s insurance market amid climate-driven risk.
Under that framework, six insurers, including Farmers, Mercury, CSAA, USAA, Pacific Specialty, and California Casualty, have committed to maintaining or expanding homeowners coverage in wildfire-affected areas.
Last year, Lara also backed legislation expanding moratorium protections beyond homeowners. The Business Insurance Protection Act, SB 547, extends safeguards to businesses, homeowners and condominium associations, affordable housing providers, senior living facilities, and nonprofit organizations. The law took effect on January 1, 2026.
