SAN DIEGO TIPS
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Rashid Khan

Can you still get home insurance in a San Diego fire zone?

4 min read Checked October 6, 2026

Usually, but it can take shopping. If regular insurers say no, the California FAIR Plan covers fire as a last resort, and you add a separate policy for everything else. Updated fire zone maps took effect in the City in August 2025.

Last resort
FAIR Plan

Fire coverage only

FAIR dwelling limit
$3M

Per policy

New City fire map
Aug 30, 2025

Took effect

Discounts
Required

Safer from Wildfires upgrades

The short version

  • The State Fire Marshal released new Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps for local areas in March 2025; San Diego's City Council adopted them and they took effect August 30, 2025.
  • State Farm stopped writing new California homeowners policies in 2023 and announced about 72,000 non-renewals in 2024.
  • The California FAIR Plan is the insurer of last resort; it covers fire, and you pair it with a separate difference-in-conditions policy for theft, liability and water damage.
  • Under the state's Safer from Wildfires rules, insurers must offer discounts for upgrades like Class A roofs, ember-resistant vents and a 5-foot non-combustible zone around the house.
  • The state's Sustainable Insurance Strategy requires insurers using catastrophe models to write more policies in wildfire-distressed areas.

Insurance is now one of the first questions buyers ask about a San Diego home, especially in the canyons and East County. Coverage is still out there, but in higher-risk areas it may take a broker, a FAIR Plan policy, or some fire-hardening.

Before you make an offer

  1. 01

    Check the fire zone

    Look the address up on the City's fire zone map (or CAL FIRE's viewer outside the City). The 2025 maps added areas, and cities can add zones but can't remove state ones.

  2. 02

    Get insurance quotes early

    Ask for quotes during your inspection period, not after. The seller's disclosures will also flag fire zones: see the natural hazard disclosure.

  3. 03

    Ask about the home's upgrades

    Class A roofs, ember-resistant vents, dual-pane windows and cleared Zone 0 earn required discounts.

FAIR Plan vs. a regular homeowners policy

California FAIR PlanStandard homeowners
CoversFire, lightning, smoke (basic perils)Fire plus theft, liability, water damage and more
Fills the gaps withA separate difference-in-conditions (DIC) policyNot needed
Dwelling limitUp to $3 millionVaries
Who uses itHomes regular insurers won't coverEveryone else

SOURCES

Everything above traces back to one of these. Follow them — if one has changed and we haven't, that's our mistake, not yours.

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