California Home Insurance Quotes
California homeowners quotes can change with the ZIP code, construction, roof, wildfire exposure, rebuilding cost, deductible, and the underwriting rules each insurer uses. The California Department of Insurance says the state does not require homeowners to carry homeowners insurance. If you have a mortgage, your mortgage servicer will require enough insurance to rebuild the home. Compare the same limits and read the exclusions before you choose a policy. California Department of Insurance homeowners insurance guide.
How to Compare California Home Insurance
The Department of Insurance tells shoppers to compare price, policy coverage, and conditions, and to read the contract instead of accepting a coverage label at face value. Use the same dwelling limit, personal-property basis, liability limit, deductibles, occupancy, and endorsements on every quote. A lower price can reflect a larger deductible, actual cash value instead of replacement cost, or a missing endorsement. Open the Residential Insurance guide (Form 401, revised January 2026).
What a Homeowners Policy Usually Includes
The same guide splits a homeowners policy into two sections. Section I is property coverage: Coverage A for the dwelling, Coverage B for other structures, Coverage C for personal property, and Coverage D for loss of use. Section II is liability coverage: Coverage E for personal liability and Coverage F for medical payments to others. Coverage B is normally limited to 10 percent of the Coverage A limit, and Coverage D is normally limited to 20 percent of Coverage A. You can buy higher limits for an additional charge. Those percentages are the Department’s description of a typical policy, not a promise that every quote uses them.
Perils the guide says are typically covered, when the policy lists them, include fire or lightning, windstorm or hail, explosion, riot or civil commotion, aircraft, vehicles, smoke, vandalism and malicious mischief, theft, volcanic eruption, falling objects, the weight of ice, snow, or sleet, sudden and accidental water damage, and breakage of glass. Perils it says are generally not covered include flood, earthquake, earth movement, mold, wear and tear, neglect, and tidal wave. Read the exclusions in the contract you are asked to buy.
Earthquake Coverage
The Department’s earthquake guide says homeowners and condominium policies do not cover damage from earthquakes. If you have a mortgage, you must have homeowners insurance, but you do not have to buy earthquake insurance. Fire that follows an earthquake is covered by the homeowners policy whether or not you buy earthquake coverage. California law requires that result. California Department of Insurance earthquake insurance page.
If you have homeowners insurance in California, your company must offer to sell you earthquake insurance, and it must make that offer every other year. The Residential Insurance guide states the same duty: when an insurer writes your homeowners coverage, it is legally obligated to offer earthquake coverage for an additional charge. The offer may be from your homeowners insurer, from a separate insurer, or through the California Earthquake Authority. The earthquake page says the Authority provides most earthquake insurance in the state. You cannot buy it directly from the Authority. You buy it from a participating insurer, you must already have a residential property policy, and you must buy the earthquake policy from that same company. Earthquake insurance does not cover flood or tsunami.
Flood and Earth Movement
The Department’s flood page says homeowners policies typically exclude flood, mudslide, debris flow, and similar disasters. The California FAIR Plan does not cover storm-related damage unless you also buy a difference-in-conditions policy from another insurer. Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. Flood coverage for participating communities is available through the National Flood Insurance Program, which FEMA administers. California Department of Insurance flood insurance facts.
A new National Flood Insurance Program policy takes effect 30 days after purchase. The flood page states an exception: if you buy a house in a designated high-risk area and a federally regulated lender makes the mortgage, the lender must require flood insurance, the policy takes effect immediately, and the 30-day wait does not apply. The homeowners guide states the same lender duty when federal flood maps place the property in a high-risk flood zone. Earth movement, including landslide and subsidence, stays outside both a typical homeowners policy and a flood policy. Ask which cause of loss each quote actually covers.
Rebuilding Cost, Contents, and Living Expenses
The Residential Insurance guide says the dwelling limit should be the amount it would cost to replace the home. That amount may have nothing to do with the purchase price or the current market value, because homeowners insurance generally does not cover the land. If an insurer or broker-agent gives you a replacement-cost estimate with an application, or at renewal of a policy that pays on a replacement-cost basis, a copy of that estimate must be provided to the applicant or insured who agrees to buy the coverage. Keep written notes of any rebuild-cost conversation, and send updates about additions or renovations in writing.
Actual cash value is not the same promise. On a total loss to the structure, the guide defines recovery as the policy limit or the fair market value of the structure, whichever is less. On a partial loss to the structure, it is the cost to repair, rebuild, or replace, minus a fair and reasonable deduction for physical depreciation, or the policy limit, whichever is less. A policy cannot be sold as guaranteed replacement cost unless it will pay to rebuild the home completely regardless of the coverage limit. Other replacement-cost forms pay the policy limit plus a percentage above that limit. Some policies do not include building-code upgrade coverage, so a city or county code change may not be paid. The contents limit is generally around half of the dwelling amount, and the guide calls that a guideline only. Special limits for jewelry, fine arts, firearms, silverware, money, and similar items sit inside the contents limit. They are not extra limits stacked on top. Loss of use can help with additional living expenses, including housing and meals, when a covered peril makes the home unlivable. Keep the receipts.
| California comparison item | What can differ | What the Department says to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Separate offer, Authority policy, or no earthquake coverage | The company must offer it every other year. Buying it is not required. Fire after an earthquake stays on the homeowners policy. |
| Flood | Excluded from the homeowners policy, or bought separately | Lender requirement in a mapped high-risk zone. A new flood policy waits 30 days unless that lender requirement applies. |
| Rebuild limit | Sale price, market value, or replacement cost | The limit should track rebuild cost. Land is not covered. A replacement-cost estimate must be copied to you when one is given. |
| FAIR Plan | Basic fire policy, or a fuller homeowners policy | No liability and no burglary on the basic policy. Ask about a difference-in-conditions policy. No broker fee on a FAIR Plan submission. |
FAIR Plan and Quote Availability
Insurers use different eligibility rules, and a quote that exists in one ZIP code may be unavailable in another. The Residential Insurance guide says that if you cannot find a company willing to sell a homeowners policy because you do not meet its eligibility requirements, or you cannot find a coverage such as fire, look at the special programs it describes. The California FAIR Plan is an association of all property insurers licensed to do business in California. It is designed to make property insurance available to people who have trouble buying it from private insurers because the property is treated as high risk.
The FAIR Plan basic policy is a standard fire policy for the structure and the contents. The guide says it has coverage limitations. It does not provide liability, and it does not cover other perils such as burglary. Read the policy. A difference-in-conditions policy, or other supplemental coverage from a private insurer, should be considered with a FAIR Plan policy. It is illegal for a broker to charge a broker fee for placing coverage solely with the FAIR Plan. The homeowners guide names the FAIR Plan as the option when you cannot find a homeowners policy or a particular coverage because you do not meet an insurer’s eligibility rules. If a broker looks at surplus lines instead, the guide says those insurers are not backed by the California Insurance Guarantee Association.
Begin with our home insurance comparison by ZIP code, then review the companies available through the insurance company guide. Properties that are difficult to place can also use the high-risk homeowners insurance guide.
Cancellation and Nonrenewal Notices
After a residential policy has been in effect for 60 days, the Residential Insurance guide says the company can cancel only for reasons specified by law. Those reasons include nonpayment of premium, fraud, material misrepresentation, or physical changes in the property that increase a hazard insured against. The company must mail or deliver the cancellation notice to your last known address at least 20 days before the cancellation date, and at least 10 days before cancellation for nonpayment or fraud. A written nonrenewal notice must be sent at least 75 days before expiration. If the company misses that deadline, the existing policy, with no change in its terms and conditions, remains in effect for 75 days from the date the notice is sent. Both the cancellation notice and the nonrenewal notice must state the reason.
Questions to Ask Before Buying
- Which insurer will issue the California policy, and is that company licensed in California?
- Does this quote pay replacement cost or actual cash value on the dwelling and on personal property?
- If a replacement-cost estimate was prepared, do you have the copy the Department says must be provided?
- Has the insurer offered earthquake coverage, and is that offer separate from this homeowners quote?
- Do federal flood maps place this address in a high-risk zone that would make a lender require flood insurance?
- Is this a FAIR Plan fire policy that still needs a difference-in-conditions policy for liability and burglary?
- Which deductibles apply, and what dollar amount would you pay before the policy responds?
- Does the quote include building-code upgrade coverage, or would a code change be unpaid?
FAQ About California Home Insurance
Q: Does California require homeowners insurance?
A: No. The Department of Insurance says California does not require homeowners to carry homeowners insurance. If you have a mortgage, the mortgage servicer will require enough insurance to rebuild the home.
Q: Does a California homeowners policy cover earthquake damage?
A: No, except fire that follows an earthquake. That fire is covered by the homeowners policy whether or not you buy earthquake insurance. Your insurer must offer earthquake coverage every other year. You do not have to buy it.
Q: Does homeowners insurance cover flood in California?
A: Standard homeowners policies typically do not. Flood coverage is separate. In a mapped high-risk flood zone, a lender will require flood insurance. A new National Flood Insurance Program policy usually starts 30 days after purchase, unless a federally regulated lender requires it for that high-risk zone, in which case it starts immediately.
Q: What is the California FAIR Plan?
A: It is the association of licensed property insurers that the Department describes for people who cannot buy property insurance in the private market because the property is treated as high risk. The basic policy covers the structure and contents against fire. It does not include liability or burglary. A difference-in-conditions policy can fill some of those gaps, and a broker may not charge a broker fee for a FAIR Plan submission.
Q: Should the dwelling limit match the sale price?
A: The Department says the dwelling limit should be the cost to rebuild. That cost may have nothing to do with the purchase price or the market value. The policy generally does not cover the land.