FAIR Plan policy notices and renewals.

The effective date for clearinghouse program information sharing changed from 'after 3 renewal periods after January 1, 2027' (approximately mid-2029) to a fixed date of 'on and after January 1, 2028,' bringing the start of the process roughly a year earlier.

The mechanism shifted from authorizing insurers to 'offer coverage directly to the insured' to authorizing the association to 'share policyholder information with insurers participating in the clearinghouse program.' The association is now the entity performing the sharing rather than the insurer making a direct offer.

A new explicit requirement was added: if there is an agent or broker of record listed on the policy, an insurer shall make the offer simultaneously to both the agent or broker of record and the FAIR Plan policyholder. This applies to both the homeowners (subdivision i) and commercial (subdivision j) clearinghouse programs.

Subdivisions (i) and (j) of Section 10095 were restructured from single blocks into numbered sub-parts: (i)(1) and (i)(2), and (j)(1) and (j)(2). Sub-part (1) contains the clearinghouse program establishment language, and sub-part (2) contains the information sharing provision with the new January 1, 2028 effective date.

New Section 1.5 adds a version of Insurance Code Section 10095(g) that requires the FAIR Plan association to take corrective actions specified by the commissioner to rectify violations of statutes, regulations, accounting principles, or the plan of operation. Failure to comply within an agreed timeframe results in a penalty of up to $20,000 per failure, in addition to any other penalties provided by law.

New Section 1.5 adds subdivision (g)(2) allowing the association to request extensions of 30 calendar days (or greater with commissioner approval) for good cause to comply with corrective actions, and (g)(3) specifying that failures are determined per specific category of corrective action requested.

New Section 3.5 adds an alternative version of Insurance Code Section 10095.5 incorporating changes from AB 2061: updating 'Internet Web site' to 'internet website,' changing 'his or her' to 'the agent's or broker's,' and changing 'by the following methods' to 'by any one of the following methods.'

Throughout the bill, 'homeowners' was changed to 'homeowners' (adding a possessive apostrophe) in references to homeowners insurance policies, a grammatical correction.

Coauthors were added: Assembly Members Hadwick, Harabedian, Krell, Nguyen, Ortega, Michelle Rodriguez, and Wallis.

New Sections 4 and 5 establish a conditional operative mechanism: Section 1.5 only takes effect if both AB 69 and AB 1680 are enacted by January 1, 2027, both amend Section 10095, and AB 69 is enacted after AB 1680 (in which case the original Section 1 does not become operative). A parallel mechanism applies to Section 3.5 and AB 2061 for Section 10095.5.

Subdivision (i) of Section 10095 now states that the association may share relevant policyholder information, including any agent or broker of record listed on the policy, with clearinghouse program insurers so they can offer homeowners insurance policies to a FAIR Plan policyholder simultaneously with the existing agent or broker of record.

Subdivision (j) of Section 10095 now contains parallel language authorizing the association to share policyholder information with clearinghouse program insurers for the purpose of offering commercial insurance policies to FAIR Plan policyholders simultaneously with their existing agent or broker of record.

Page numbers changed from 95 to 94 throughout, and line numbering was resequenced to accommodate the added text. The amendment date header was updated to reflect June 17, 2026 as the latest amendment with June 15 moved to a secondary line.

Removed the requirement (former Section 10095.3) that a broker of record must determine before each renewal whether a FAIR Plan policy can be moved to a voluntary market insurance company, including the specific definition of 'determine' as utilizing knowledge gained from actively placing or attempting to place similar insurance.

Added privacy protections (Section 10095(k)) requiring the association to comply with the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act, provide notice to policyholders about how their personal information will be shared for clearinghouse offers, and offer a method to opt out of that sharing.

Amended Section 10095.5 to add a new method of assistance for agents and brokers: providing the person with information on the clearinghouse programs (subdivision b(4)). Also added a requirement (subdivision c) that the association post a list of participating insurers on its website and update it quarterly.

Added a homeowners insurance clearinghouse program (Section 10095(i)) requiring the association to develop and implement the program by July 1, 2021, allowing admitted insurers to offer homeowners policies to FAIR Plan policyholders through the listed agent or broker of record. After three renewal periods after January 1, 2027, any admitted or nonadmitted insurer may offer coverage directly to the insured.

Added a commercial insurance clearinghouse program (Section 10095(j)) with a similar structure, requiring implementation by July 1, 2024, and allowing direct offers to insureds after three renewal periods following January 1, 2027.

The bill now amends Sections 10095 and 10095.5 in addition to adding Section 10095.2, expanding its reach from two new sections to modifications of existing FAIR Plan operational provisions.

Added quarterly reporting requirements (Section 10095(l)) effective May 1, 2027: participating insurers must report the number of policies issued to FAIR Plan policyholders each quarter; the association must report aggregated numbers within 30 days to the commissioner and legislative insurance committees, and post them on its public website.

Section 10095(e)(2) is new: the FAIR Plan association must require registered agents and brokers to complete a department-approved 'Brokers and FAIR Plan course' that trains them on their responsibility to advise policyholders about voluntary market options.

Section 10095.5(b) changed from requiring agents and brokers to assist by 'any one of the following methods' to assisting 'by the following methods,' meaning they must now provide ALL listed forms of assistance (submitting an application, providing website/phone info, placing with a voluntary market insurer, AND providing clearinghouse program information) rather than just one.

Section 10095.2(a) changed the notice formatting requirement from '14-point bold font' to 'boldface type,' removing the specific 14-point size mandate and giving the FAIR Plan association more flexibility in how it formats the required consumer notice.

The short title was corrected from referencing only Section 10095.3 to properly reference both Sections 10095.2 and 10095.3, fixing an incomplete description of what the bill adds to the Insurance Code.

New Section 10095.2 requires the FAIR Plan association to provide all policyholders a notice in 14-point bold font containing specific language: 'IMPORTANT NOTICE: CONTACT YOUR BROKER TO SEE IF OTHER COVERAGE IS AVAILABLE. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SHOP AROUND.' plus guidance to use the California Department of Insurance Home Insurance Finder tool.

The notice must be provided at least annually, including with initial policy issuance and upon each renewal, and must appear on a separate page from any other notice, information, or disclosure.

The bill's scope expanded from only requiring brokers to check voluntary market options before renewal, to also mandating proactive annual consumer education notices from the FAIR Plan association itself. The digest title changed from 'FAIR Plan policy renewals' to 'FAIR Plan policy notices and renewals.'