You open your renewal notice expecting a modest bump, and instead your premium has more than doubled. A 122% increase isn’t a typo, and it isn’t necessarily a mistake on the carrier’s part either — but it’s also not something you should just accept without a closer look. Here’s what’s actually going on, and what to do about it.

First: This Is Bigger Than Just Your Policy

If your premium spiked dramatically at renewal, it’s very unlikely you did anything wrong. California’s homeowners insurance market has been under enormous pressure since the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which generated tens of billions of dollars in insured losses. Insurers are recouping those losses the way they always do — by raising rates, and in some cases raising them sharply, across entire regions rather than just the properties that were actually damaged.

What changed in the rules: Under California’s newer Sustainable Insurance Strategy, admitted carriers are now allowed to factor the actual cost of reinsurance into their rates for the first time — something Proposition 103 had previously restricted. Reinsurance costs have risen sharply industry-wide, and that cost is increasingly being passed through directly to homeowners. This is a major, underreported driver of the kind of jump you’re seeing.

What Could Be Driving a 122% Increase Specifically

A jump this large is usually not one single factor — it’s several stacking on top of each other:

Base rate increases approved for your carrier, sometimes filed at 30%+ for a specific region or risk category
Reinsurance cost pass-through, now permitted under the state’s revised rate-filing framework
A FAIR Plan assessment surcharge — many admitted carriers are required to participate in funding FAIR Plan losses, and are now passing a portion of that cost to policyholders as a line-item fee on the declarations page
Updated catastrophe modeling that reclassifies your specific property’s wildfire, flood, or other risk score — even without any changes to the home itself
Increased dwelling coverage (Coverage A) if your carrier adjusted your rebuild-cost estimate for rising construction and labor costs

Read your declarations page line by line. Look specifically for a “Temporary Supplemental Fee” or similar FAIR Plan assessment line item, and compare your Coverage A dwelling limit year over year. A jump from, say, $670,000 to $707,000 in dwelling coverage explains only a small fraction of a premium that doubled — the rest is coming from rate and fee changes, not your coverage amount.

What To Do — Step by Step

1. Don’t assume you have to accept it

A renewal increase, even a large one, is not the same as a non-renewal. You have options, and you have time to use them before the new premium is due.

2. Get your policy re-shopped, not just re-quoted by the same carrier

Rates vary significantly between carriers for the exact same property and coverage. Some insurers are actively expanding in California right now under new state requirements to write more business in higher-risk ZIP codes — which means a carrier that wouldn’t touch your property a year ago might quote it competitively today. As an independent agency, we can compare multiple carriers at once instead of you calling company by company.

3. Ask about wildfire mitigation discounts

If you’ve made any hardening improvements — defensible space clearance, ember-resistant vents, a Class A fire-rated roof — many carriers now offer meaningful discounts for documented mitigation work, both at the individual property level and at the community level for homes in a recognized Firewise community.

4. Review your deductible

Raising your “all other perils” deductible — for example from $2,500 to $5,000 — can meaningfully lower your premium. Only do this if you’re confident you could cover that amount out of pocket in a claim.

5. Confirm your dwelling coverage is accurate, not inflated

Sometimes a big jump in Coverage A reflects an outdated rebuild-cost estimate finally catching up to construction costs — and sometimes it’s simply overshooting. Ask your agent to walk through exactly how your rebuild cost was calculated.

6. If you’re on, or facing, the FAIR Plan — get a second opinion first

The FAIR Plan has filed for a substantial rate increase of its own this year. Before assuming FAIR Plan coverage is your only option, it’s worth having an independent agency check whether admitted-market carriers are now writing in your area — the private market has been slowly reopening in some previously hard-to-place ZIP codes.

What to Have Ready When You Call

Your current declarations page — both this year’s and last year’s, if you have them, for a direct comparison
Any wildfire mitigation work you’ve completed, with dates and documentation if available
Your current dwelling coverage limit and whether it reflects a recent renovation or upgrade
Your claims history for the past 3-5 years
Your target deductible range — know what you could comfortably absorb out of pocket

Let’s Look at Your Renewal Together

A premium increase this large deserves a real second look — not just a shrug and a payment. As an independent agency, we compare multiple carriers side by side, check for mitigation discounts you may qualify for, and make sure you’re not paying for coverage gaps or overestimated rebuild costs. If you’ve received a renewal notice with a jump anywhere close to this, bring it in and let’s go through it line by line.

James CQ Banh

Agency Director · Starwest Insurance Services, LLC

Serving Orange County’s Vietnamese-American and Spanish-speaking communities since 1996. Reach out directly at 714-893-7271 or 714-867-7799 for a no-obligation review of your home insurance renewal.

My Home Insurance Went Up 122% — What Should I Do?