H.N. Christensen Insurance Brokers President Andrea Christensen has highlighted significant changes in California’s insurance market as new reforms are implemented to address issues related to access, pricing, and risk. Christensen shared her insights in a social media post on LinkedIn.
“If you live in California and have tried to update or renew your insurance recently, you know the market has changed,” said Christensen, according to LinkedIn. “Fewer carriers are offering coverage. And while wildfire risk continues to drive much of the conversation, the effects are reaching well beyond high-risk zones. California introduced a series of insurance reforms in 2025 in response to these challenges.”
In early 2025, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) introduced a comprehensive “Sustainable Insurance Strategy” aimed at tackling a crisis characterized by insurer withdrawals, rising premiums, and limited consumer access, particularly in wildfire-prone areas. According to a coalition of industry and consumer groups, these reforms focus on major challenges such as delayed rate approvals—averaging 256 days in 2024—and decreasing insurer participation that poses threats to homeowners and small businesses. These measures represent California’s most significant intervention in the insurance market in decades.
Recent research indicates that California’s private insurance market for single-family homes faces a coverage gap ranging from $800 billion to $1.3 trillion, primarily due to wildfire risks. Approximately $300 billion of this gap is concentrated in the highest-risk fire zones. As a result, many insurers have either exited or reduced their operations, limiting consumer access to affordable standard home-insurance products. McKinsey & Company’s October 2025 analysis emphasizes these urgent structural vulnerabilities within the state’s homeowners-insurance market.
Analysis by the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan and independent researchers reveals that numerous major insurers have completely withdrawn from California’s homeowners-insurance market. For instance, as of early 2025, some insurers reported nine-figure underwriting losses related to wildfires, leading them to request rate increases exceeding 20%. This withdrawal from high-risk regions has forced thousands of homeowners into the FAIR Plan, a state-backed insurer of last resort.
Andrea Christensen serves as President of H.N. Christensen Insurance Brokers LLC and began her career at her family’s agency in 1974 while still in high school. She assumed leadership following the retirement of previous generations and holds professional credentials including Certified Construction Industry Professional (CCIP) and Certified Legal Investigator Consultant (CLIC). Her experience encompasses personal and commercial insurance with an emphasis on nonprofit clients. Her biography is available on the agency’s website.
