HOA master policies enter California's wildfire non-renewal ban for the first time
HOA master policies enter California's wildfire non-renewal ban for the first time
2026-09-09 · California · Regulation
For seven years California has barred insurers from dropping homeowners for wildfire risk after a declared disaster. Association master policies were never covered. As of January 1, 2026, they are.
The change came through Insurance Code section 675.55, added by SB 547 and sponsored by the Department of Insurance. It parallels the residential moratorium at section 675.1(b)(1), which SB 824 created in 2018 — but it applies to commercial policies.1
The subdivision that names associations
Section 675.55 carries a carve-out that would ordinarily exclude most association policies: commercial policies with an annual premium of $25,000 or more where the insured averaged 25 or more employees over the prior 12 months.
An association with a large master policy and no employees would fail that test on both limbs. Subdivision (d) overrides the carve-out for real property used primarily for commercial residential or habitational purposes, and it lists the categories by name:
“(1) Homeowners associations. (2) Condominium associations. (3) Long-term rental hotels or motels. (4) Apartment complexes. (5) Condominium complexes. (6) Multifamily dwellings with greater than five units. (7) Student housing. (8) Senior living facilities.”
That is the Legislature putting associations inside the protection in the statute itself, rather than leaving it to be argued.
It has already run twice this year
The moratorium is not automatic. It attaches when the Governor proclaims an emergency and the Insurance Commissioner issues a bulletin identifying the affected ZIP codes.
Bulletin 2026-6, dated August 14, 2026, followed the Governor's August 6 emergency proclamation for the Gann Fire in Calaveras County. It runs one year from August 6, 2026 across 22 ZIP codes: 95215, 95220, 95222, 95225, 95226, 95227, 95228, 95229, 95230, 95236, 95245, 95247, 95249, 95251, 95252, 95254, 95320, 95327, 95361, 95370, 95640 and 95642.2
Insurers must also offer to rescind any wildfire-risk cancellation or non-renewal notice issued on or after August 6, 2026 in those ZIP codes, and offer to reinstate or renew. The bulletin binds admitted and non-admitted surplus lines insurers alike.
The same machinery ran earlier in 2026 through Bulletin 2026-1, following the Gifford Fire across Kern, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
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Related California HOA Topics
- SB 547, California Legislature — bill status (Chapter 544, Statutes of 2025; adding Insurance Code § 675.55, effective January 1, 2026) ↩
- Bulletin 2026-6, California Department of Insurance (August 14, 2026) — one-year mandatory moratorium, Gann Fire, with the 22 affected ZIP codes ↩
- Press release 027-2026, California Department of Insurance — Gann Fire moratorium announcement ↩
- Bulletins index, California Department of Insurance — 2026 and 2025 bulletin series ↩
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