California families are facing an insurance crisis – but thanks in part to the actions of Green America and its members and supporters, a new law will help make sure homeowners can weather the storm.
For the past several years, large insurers have stopped renewing policies in California, especially in climate vulnerable areas. Statewide nonrenewal rates rose 82% from 2018 to 2023, according to data collected by the Senate Budget Committee. Some counties saw nonrenewal increases as high as 650%. In many cases, policyholders receive sudden nonrenewal notices with no documentation and no clear path to fix the issue.
To address this, Senate Bill 1301, Nonrenewal Guardrails to Preserve Coverage Act, sponsored by Sen. Ben Allen:
- Requires insurance companies to give homeowners six months’ notice of a nonrenewal.
- Requires insurance companies to disclose specific, documented reasons for not renewing a policy.
- Required insurance companies to tell homeowners what steps they can take to keep their home insurance.
- Prohibits insurance companies from not renewing a policy after homewoners inquire about a claim or file a claim within the deductible.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1301 into law on September 27, 2026.
To pass this critical law, Green America worked with Consumer Watchdog and Every Fire Survivor’s Network on a series of actions:
- We mobilized over 450 of our members and supporters to ask their state senator to support this and other insurance bills.
- We joined 40 other public interest groups in signing coalition letters supporting each of the three bills.
- We endorsed the Fix Insurance campaign to pass these bills.
No one individual or single group can make needed reforms like this alone. It takes all of us working together as individuals and groups to make this happen.
Now thanks to all of our actions, California families will have an easier time keeping the insurance they need to stay in their homes.
