By John Woolfolk, INSURANCE NEWSNET
California’s efforts to repair its troubled home insurance market could be headed for a rethink under Jane Kim, who has proposed a state-run wildfire insurance plan that has little precedent elsewhere.
While outgoing Commissioner Ricardo Lara has sought to persuade private insurers to sell more policies by giving them greater flexibility in pricing coverage, Kim would have the state insure wildfire losses, leaving private companies to cover other homeowner risks.
The proposal has drawn skepticism from insurers and consumer advocates alike. But advocates frustrated with Lara’s reforms, which they characterized as giveaways to the industry, said Kim may prove a stronger voice for consumers even if her public insurance idea faces obstacles.
“Maybe they’ll realize it’s a privilege to do business in California,” Consumer Watchdog founder Harvey Rosenfield said.
Kim emerged as the apparent winner of the insurance commissioner’s race after rival Ben Allen conceded Friday. Both Democrats promised to champion consumers and be tough on insurers, but Allen, a state senator from Los Angeles, ran on expanding Lara’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy rather than pursuing Kim’s public insurance proposal.
Kim points to a similar program in New Zealand, though she has acknowledged that her proposal would require further study.
“She wants to turn the applecart upside down,” said Steven Maviglio, a Democratic strategist who has worked with the insurance industry.
The competing approaches come after a series of devastating and costly wildfires prompted insurers to abandon coverage for thousands of homeowners in high-risk regions over the last five years. The companies blamed the state’s regulations for preventing them from adequately pricing policy risk.
As insurers declined policy renewals, thousands more homeowners were forced onto the California FAIR Plan, a state-established, privately run high-risk insurance pool offering coverage only for fire and related risks, and at higher cost than standard market-rate policies.
California’s efforts to tackle its deteriorating home insurance market kicked off in September 2023 with an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the launch of Lara’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy. It aimed to address longstanding industry complaints that the state’s regulations prevented insurers from adequately pricing growing wildfire risks in a warming climate.
The changes included faster rate reviews, allowing forward-looking wildfire risk models to factor into premiums and allowing insurers to account for certain costs of reinsurance — policies they buy to cover their own risks of catastrophic losses. In exchange, insurers using the new pricing rules must commit to selling more coverage in high-risk areas.
Lara has noted that private insurers don’t have to sell policies in the state and blamed predecessors for ignoring warning signs about the regulatory system. Since embarking on his plan, insurers have started to offer new policies, though consumer advocates argue not nearly enough.
Insurers hope to work with Kim, governor-elect Xavier Becerra and the Legislature to maintain the course set by her predecessor.
“While recent reforms are beginning to stabilize the market, the insurance crisis is far from over, and a full recovery will take time. Protecting this progress is critical,” said Denni Ritter, department vice president for state government relations at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. “Costly new mandates or regulatory actions that drive up costs or limit coverage options risk reversing this progress and worsening the crisis.”
Rex Frazier, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, said a radical departure from the current course would be a tough sell. Average monthly new FAIR Plan policies, though still higher than in 2022, are down 27% from 2025. Kim would have to explain to lawmakers why her approach would be better than Lara’s strategy, he said.
“There are lots of questions about her proposals and we’ll be ready to work through them, hopefully with her,” Frazier said.
The insurance commissioner leads the state agency that approves rate increases for home and automobile coverage, investigates complaints against insurers and advances policies meant to keep insurance affordable and available. Voters created the elected position through Proposition 103 in 1988, a reaction to escalating auto insurance prices.
As of Monday, Kim had 4.8 million votes, or 53.5%, and Allen 4.2 million votes, or 46.5%, according to the California Secretary of State. About 3 million ballots remain unprocessed. The Secretary of State has until Dec. 11 to certify the results.
Kim, 49, is a former San Francisco supervisor and California political director for independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign.
“So we have to make insurance affordable, available and fair,” Kim said in a brief speech to supporters.
Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, questioned Kim’s public insurance proposal. She noted that the California Earthquake Authority, the state’s attempt to provide earthquake coverage for homeowners, has found few takers because of high policy costs for even limited coverage.
Even so, she said her organization welcomes what she believes will be a more consumer-minded commissioner, who can put more teeth in regulations and defend consumers who complain that they aren’t getting coverage they paid for.
“A commissioner with consumers front of mind can do an awful lot,” Balber said.
The Southern California News Group contributed to this report.
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Consumer Watchdog · November 10, 2026
https://consumerwatchdog.org/in-the-news/insurancenewsnet-could-california-take-over-wildfire-insurance-jane-kim-wants-to-try-as-new-insurance-commissioner/
© 2026 Consumer Watchdog. Printed November 10, 2026.
