The state of California announced a one-year moratorium on the cancellation or non-renewal of homeowners insurance policies in zip codes affected by the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

In 2019, the number of homeowners’ policies in California that were not renewed jumped by more than thirty per cent. In 2023, two giant insurers, State Farm and Allstate, announced that they would stop writing new policies for various forms of property insurance in California.

The deadly and destructive fires in Los Angeles — which some say could be the costliest in the state’s history — will further strain the insurance market and worsen the financial position of California’s insurer of last resort.