California will start requiring property insurers to increase coverage in wildfire-prone areas after homeowners across the state increasingly struggle to find policies. The state's new rule announced Monday requires insurers to start increasing their coverage by 5% every two years until they hit the equivalent of 85% of their market share. That means if an insurer writes 20 out of every 100 state policies, they’d need to write 17 in a high-risk area. The requirement will take effect within 30 days. In exchange for increasing coverage, insurers will be able to consider climate change when setting their prices. They’re all parts of an effort to persuade insurers to continue doing business in the nation’s most populous state.
