Insurance
Aug. 11, 2025
When coverage falls short: The ongoing challenge of underinsurance in California
The growing frequency of catastrophic wildfires has exposed a persistent and costly underinsurance problem -- driven by outdated insurer estimates, limited policy caps, and legal hurdles to recovery -- that leaves many homeowners facing massive out-of-pocket rebuilding costs unless they take proactive steps to verify and increase their coverage.
In the wake of every major California fire over the last two decades, thousands of homeowners have learned that their homeowner policies do not provide enough to cover the cost of rebuilding. Surveys following recent fires have consistently reported that 30% to 60% of the affected homeowners are underinsured. In many cases, the amount of shortfall is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In some cases, it's in the millions. In each case, the homeowner is faced with having ...
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