Experts Unveil “Blueprint to A.C.T.” for California’s Next Insurance Commissioner to Tackle Home Insurance Crisis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2026
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Experts Unveil “Blueprint to A.C.T.” for California’s Next Insurance Commissioner to Tackle Home Insurance Crisis
New Polling Shows Overwhelming Voter Demand for Reforms
SACRAMENTO – Earlier today, the Insurance Fairness Project hosted a press conference featuring California experts and homeowners who unveiled a new “Blueprint to A.C.T.” – on Affordability, Climate Risk Reduction, and Transparency – for the state's next Insurance Commissioner.
“This is a roadmap for the next insurance commissioner to address climate head-on, make insurers live up to their promises and keep Californians covered,” said Carmen Balber, Executive Director of Consumer Watchdog. It’s the first time public interest groups have crafted a vision for the next Commissioner to help Californians burdened by rising insurance instability to solve the insurance crisis and make the market work for people.”
"We are marching toward an uninsurable future due to the increased frequency and severity of climate-driven disasters," said former California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. "We need our next insurance commissioner to commit to the Blueprint for insurance regulation and protect consumers from excessive rate increases, improve availability of insurance, make sure insurers are accounting for investments in mitigation, and address growing climate-related financial risks."
To watch a recording of the press conference, click here.
The Blueprint centers on three core priorities:
Ensuring insurance remains available and affordable by strengthening oversight of rate increases, limiting non-renewals and market withdrawals, and ensuring that risk reduction efforts result in price improvements and access to coverage.
Ensure insurance companies are transparent and accountable — with fair pricing, clear decisions, and timely, fair claims handling. Set and enforce strong standards for catastrophe models, stop unjustified costs from being passed on to households, and strengthen public oversight, especially after disasters. Maintain strict conflict-of-interest rules across the department.
Take a forward-looking approach that recognizes how insurance affects the broader economy — including housing, lending, and local governments. Put guardrails in place to prevent widespread harm and avoid shifting costs onto the most vulnerable communities. Make sure the insurance market helps reduce real risk, not just move it around.
Together, these actions create an agenda for the next Insurance Commissioner to fully use the authority of the office to protect Californians.
“The immediate aftermath of a disaster is just the beginning of an onset of issues survivors face in their journey to recovery,” said Alyson Granaderos Philips, an Altadena resident and Eaton Fire survivor. “The systems we pay into to protect us during times of disaster continually act in bad faith. The individuals voted into power to regulate these systems demonstrate that their interests are not in line with the needs of survivors. So where do we turn?”
New Polling Shows California Voters Want Action
New polling commissioned by the Insurance Fairness Project underscores the urgency of reform – and demonstrates voter demand for the measures recommended by the Blueprint to A.C.T.. The survey found that:
90% of California voters are concerned about home insurance costs.
79% lack confidence in the state’s ability to handle another disaster like the 2025 fires
94% support requiring transparency in rate hikes—they want to see the data that justifies the price increases they’re being asked to pay.
90% support stronger oversight of non-renewals, so insurers can’t simply pull out of communities without accountability.
94% support rewarding home hardening, ensuring that if people invest in making their homes safer, they see real benefits in both cost and coverage.
“California is facing a housing-industry-wide insurance crisis, with acute and unique impacts to the affordable housing sector in California,” said Araceli Palafox, Associate Director, Policy at Enterprise Community Partners (Southern California). “The insurance crisis presents an urgent threat to the stability of affordable housing in California, undermining the state’s investments in affordable housing and putting tens of thousands of California’s most vulnerable households at risk.”
“Californians are deeply worried about whether they can afford to protect their homes and whether the system will be there when they need it most,” said TJ Helmstetter, spokesperson for the Insurance Fairness Project. “The next Insurance Commissioner must act boldly or risk presiding over a system that fails the very people it’s meant to protect.”
Broad Coalition Backs the Blueprint
The Blueprint was developed by Dave Jones, California Insurance Commissioner Emeritus, Consumer Watchdog, Rise Economy, Extreme Weather Survivors, Climate Cabinet Education, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, Public Citizen, and The Greenlining Institute.
It’s been endorsed by more than two dozen organizations and counting, including:
Alliance of Californians For Community Empowerment (ACCE)
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund
The American Policyholder Association
California Coalition for Rural Housing
Center for Climate Integrity
Ceres
Climate Cabinet Education
Climate Organizing Hub
Consumer Watchdog
Dave Jones, California Insurance Commissioner Emeritus
Emergency Legal Responders
End Poverty in California (EPIC)
Esperanza Community Housing
Extreme Weather Survivors
Green America
The Greenlining Institute
National Housing Law Project
Public Citizen
Public Counsel
Rise Economy
Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing (SCANPH)
Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE)
Third Act Sacramento
Unlocking America’s Future
Background
The 2025 Los Angeles fires alone are estimated to have caused more than $130 billion in damages, and many survivors remain displaced. At the same time, thousands of homeowners have lost coverage, been pushed onto the state’s FAIR Plan, or have gone uninsured altogether due to rising costs.
Experts warn that without stronger oversight and a forward-looking approach to climate risk, instability in the insurance market could have ripple effects across housing markets, local economies, and the broader financial system.
On April 22nd, there will be an Insurance Commissioner candidate forum in San Francisco. It will be the next public opportunity to see how the candidates plan to address these urgent concerns.
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The Insurance Fairness Project is an information hub dedicated to offering insights into the home insurance crisis, exploring its drivers and highlighting solutions alongside issue experts and community advocates.
