Since it first began backing policies in 2018, the California FAIR Plan has grown to become one of the larger providers of home insurance statewide, and particularly in high fire risk areas.
On Friday, Oct. 20, the Nevada County Community Forum seeks to help homeowners, and prospective homebuyers, better understand what the FAIR Plan is, what it offers and what its future coverage looks like as California continues to mitigate the threat and risk posed by wildfire.
Phil Irwin, president of Gold Insurance Solutions and a FAIR Plan representative, will join the Forum for a discussion on how ready the FAIR Plan is for a wildfire disaster.
“The California FAIR Plan Association was established to meet the needs of California homeowners unable to find insurance on the traditional marketplace,” according to its website, www.cfpnet.com.
Not a state agency or a public entity, the FAIR Plan is a “syndicated fire insurance pool comprised of all insurers licensed to conduct property/casualty business in California,” the website states.
A last-resort insurance option, the FAIR Plan backed 126,709 policies in its first year. Now five years later, its coverage has grown 153% with a total of 320,216 consumers are provided home insurance by the FAIR Plan. A good chunk of that growth, 17.4%, has come in 2023 as more large insurance providers such as State Farm have stated they will no longer write new policies in California.
The forum discussion with Irwin, which begins at 10:30 a.m. in the auditorium at Sierra College in Grass Valley, will be hosted by former Sacramento Bee Publisher Cheryl Dell.
Sponsored by the Sierra College Foundation and organized by the Nevada County Community Forum Steering Committee, the talk is the fourth in an ongoing series of town hall type of discussions on local issues of community interest. Prior forums have included NID General Manager Jennifer Hanson, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon and Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital CEO Dr. Scott Neeley.
KNOW & GO
WHAT: Nevada County Community Forum: How ready is the California FAIR Plan for wildfire disaster?
WHO: Phil Irwin, insurance broker and FAIR Plan representative, talks with former Sacramento Bee Publisher Cheryl Dell
WHEN: 10:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 20
WHERE: Sierra College, Nevada County campus, N-12-Auditorium
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