The Insurance Rate Reduction and Reform Act of 1988, an initiative measure enacted by Proposition 103, as approved by the voters at the November 8, 1988, statewide general election, prohibits specified insurance rates from being approved or remaining in effect that are excessive, inadequate, unfairly discriminatory, or otherwise in violation of the act. The act requires an insurer that wishes to change a rate to file a complete rate application with the Insurance Commissioner and deems the application approved 60 days after public notice of the application unless certain events occur, including that a consumer requests a hearing, or the commissioner determines to hold a hearing. The act requires hearings to be conducted pursuant to specified provisions of law governing administrative hearings.
Under existing law, the California FAIR Plan Association is a joint reinsurance association in which all insurers licensed to write basic property insurance participate in administering a program for the equitable apportionment of basic property insurance for persons who are unable to obtain that coverage through normal channels.
This bill would require the association, on or before January 31 and July 31 of each year, to submit a report to the commissioner that lists certain counties, according to specified population thresholds, in which the number of new residential property insurance policies issued by the FAIR Plan during the prior 6 months equals a certain percentage of the number of single family residences in that county. The bill would require a county listed on the report to be designated by the department as an insurance market protection (IMAP) eligible county under the IMAP program that would be established if AB 2167 of the 2019–20 Regular Session is enacted. The bill would authorize an insurer to submit an IMAP filing to the department for residential property insurance policies issued in an IMAP eligible county and would require the IMAP filing to set forth specified mitigation standards. The bill would require the Office of Planning and Research, on or before, January 1, 2023, to issue a report outlining the effectiveness of the IMAP program.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to establish a commission in state government consisting of the Insurance Commissioner, the State Fire Marshall, the Executive Director of the California Building Standards, and the Director of Emergency Services to, among other things, convene stakeholders to develop regionally specific community hardening standards that have the propensity for reducing loss due to wildfires. The bill would create the Catastrophic Modeling Advisory Committee to be chaired jointly by the Insurance Commissioner and the Director of Emergency Services, or their designees. The bill would prescribe the membership of the advisory committee and would require the advisory committee to, among other things, deliver to the Office of Emergency Services, on or before July 1, 2024, a comprehensive report detailing a plan for the Office of Emergency Services to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establish and operate a public catastrophic loss model.
The bill would provide that its provisions are not severable.
The bill would make its operation contingent on the enactment of AB 2167 of the 2019–20 Regular Session.

Statutes affected:
SB292: 1722 INS, 1751.5 INS
02/14/19 - Introduced: 1722 INS, 1751.5 INS
06/17/19 - Amended Assembly: 1722 INS, 1751.5 INS
SB 292: 1722 INS, 1751.5 INS