-Devastating fires in Los Angeles County are expected to further strain the insurance market and worsen the financial position of Californias Insurer of last resort of C.. More California property owners have been turning to the FAIR Plan, a pool of insurers required by state law to sell fire policies to consumers who can't find regular insurance elsewhere.

That's because in recent years, insurance companies have been canceling policies or refusing to write new ones in California, citing risk of wildfires.

As a result, FAIR Plan homeowner policies grew to more than 451,000 as of September 2024, a 123% spike over the past three years.

Last year, State Farm chose not to renew tens of thousand of policies in the state, including about 1,600 in Pacific Palisades, where residential FAIR Plan policies jumped 85% from 2023.

Meanwhile, a big question mark looms around the state's plan to try to ensure insurance availability.

A plan touted by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara as a way to get insurance companies to write policies in the state again just took effect this year.

The plan includes having the state quickly review rate hike requests from insurance companies and allowing insurers to use catastrophe models to set their premiums.

Insurers would also be able to factor in their reinsurance costs.

The concessions mean insurers will raise premiums for property owners, but in exchange must write or maintain a certain number of policies in high-risk areas.

Lara said the fires are going to complicate an already complicated market, but he said-- -Those reforms are in place now.

Those commitments are in place now.

As far as the conversations I've had as recently as last night, those still stand and move forward.

-For CalMatters, I'm Levi Sumagaysay with data reporting by Jeremiah Kimmelman.