California Home Insurance
Done Right.

California homeowners insurance typically covers your home's structure, personal belongings, personal liability if someone is injured on your property, and additional living expenses if your home becomes uninhabitable. Wildfire, earthquake, and flood coverage varies significantly by policy and often requires separate coverage or endorsements.

HO3 covers your dwelling on an open-perils basis but personal property on named perils only. HO5 covers both on an open-perils basis — meaning fewer exclusions and a broader claims experience. For high-value homes or significant personal property, HO5 is generally the better choice.

E&S (Excess and Surplus Lines) insurance covers homes that standard admitted carriers won't insure — particularly in wildfire-prone zones. E&S carriers are not backed by CIGA but are regulated and placed through licensed surplus lines brokers. In today's California market, E&S is often where coverage is available for homes in WUI zones.

Multiple factors: increasing wildfire losses (especially post-2025 LA fires), major carriers exiting the California market reducing competition, rising construction costs, reinsurance price increases, and litigation trends. Even homeowners who have never filed a claim have seen significant rate increases driven by statewide market conditions.

Yes. Being non-renewed does not mean you can't get coverage. As an independent broker with access to E&S markets, specialty admitted carriers, and surplus lines options, Bollinsure can often find coverage for homeowners who have been dropped — even in high-risk areas.

Replacement cost pays what it actually costs today to repair or replace damaged property — no depreciation deductions. Actual cash value deducts depreciation, which can leave you significantly short after a major claim. With California construction costs rising, replacement cost coverage is critical.

No. Standard homeowners policies do not cover earthquake damage. Fire is treated separately: under Insurance Code section 10088.5 the fire coverage in your homeowners or renters policy still applies to a fire that is caused by or follows an earthquake, whether or not you carry earthquake insurance — the shaking damage itself stays excluded. Separate earthquake insurance is available through the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) or private carriers. California law requires the offer rather than the purchase: under Insurance Code section 10081 an insurer may not issue a residential property policy unless it offers you earthquake coverage. Section 10083 then requires that insurer to repeat the offer on an every other year basis if the first offer was not accepted. Accepting is optional — the duty is on the company to offer, not on you to buy. Given California's seismic exposure, we strongly recommend earthquake coverage for most homeowners.

Your dwelling coverage should equal the full cost to rebuild your home at current construction prices — not the market value or purchase price. Your land is excluded from that number: Coverage A insures the structure only, so the value of the ground it stands on never belongs in the dwelling limit. With California construction costs rising sharply, many homeowners discover at claim time that their limits are far below actual rebuild costs. We help calculate accurate replacement cost estimates.