California approved 161 homeowners rate changes since 2023. None was a cut.
By C. Zakarian, editor. Published
From January 2023 through September 2026, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) approved 161 homeowners rate filings that changed rates. Every one of them was an increase. CDI's lists of closed filings show no approved homeowners rate decrease on a rate filing in that period.
What has changed is the size and number of those increases. In 2025 the median approved increase was 16.0%. So far in 2026 it is 6.9%. CDI closed 28 homeowners rate filings in the first nine months of 2026, compared with 51 in all of 2025 and 86 in 2023.
Nearly four years and 161 approvals without a single rate cut is the number that stopped us. California is not the only state where insurers have been raising homeowners rates, but among the states FiledRates has data for so far, it is the only one where the record runs in one direction. In Texas, decreases outnumbered increases among homeowners filings the Texas Department of Insurance received in 2026, 51 to 30. In Florida, the Office of Insurance Regulation announced approved decreases for four insurers in September. In California's lists, every approved homeowners rate filing over that period either raised rates or left them unchanged.
The 2026 numbers are smaller, and that is worth saying plainly. It does not mean premiums went down. A 6.9% approval still raises the average rate, and for some companies the approvals came close together: California Automobile Insurance Company had two 6.9% homeowners filings approved, closed in December 2025 and June 2026.
Every figure here is an overall average for an insurer's book of business. A policyholder's renewal can move by more or less than the approved figure, depending on where the home is, its coverage, and the rating changes inside the filing. What the averages do show is what each insurer asked for and what the Department of Insurance allowed. Both are public, and they are what our California reports are built on.
Four years of California homeowners rate decisions
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homeowners rate filings closed | 86 | 63 | 51 | 28 |
| Approved with a non-zero change | 56 | 55 | 31 | 19 |
| Of those, increases | 56 | 55 | 31 | 19 |
| Of those, decreases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Closed without approval (closed or withdrawn) | 28 | 7 | 15 | 2 |
| Median requested change | +13.9% | +15.0% | +17.4% | +7.0% |
| Median approved change | +12.5% | +14.0% | +16.0% | +6.9% |
Counts are by company: CDI lists a filing made for several companies once per company. Medians are for filings approved with a non-zero change. CDI's homeowners line also includes renters, condominium, rental dwelling, and manufactured home programs.
The largest approved increase each year was 65.0% for Liberty Insurance Corporation (2023), 56.4% for American Modern Property and Casualty Insurance Company (2024), 37.2% for Grange Insurance Association (2025), and 35.0% for Cincinnati Insurance Company (2026 so far).
Fewer, smaller increases in 2026
In the first nine months of 2026, CDI closed 28 homeowners rate filings, compared with 51 in all of 2025 and 86 in 2023. Nineteen were approved with a change, and the median approved increase was 6.9%, less than half of 2025's 16.0%.
Large increases still occur. Four 2026 approvals were 20% or more:
- Cincinnati Insurance Company, homeowner program: 35.0%, as requested (closed March 10, 2026).
- State Farm General, rental dwelling: 32.8%, requested 38.0% (closed Aug. 7, 2026).
- ASI Select Insurance Corp.: 31.9%, requested 40.0% (closed Jan. 6, 2026).
- American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, condominium: 20.0%, as requested (closed May 4, 2026).
CDI's lists record outcomes and dates, not reasons, so they don't explain why fewer homeowners rate filings closed in 2026 or why the approved increases were smaller. We will report reasons where a regulator's order or an insurer's filing states them, and not before.
How often CDI approves less than requested
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 to Sept. 30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approved below the request | 23 of 56 | 20 of 55 | 14 of 31 | 9 of 19 |
| Median cut from the request, in percentage points | 3.6 | 2.4 | 6.3 | 5.5 |
The rest were approved exactly as requested. None was approved above the request.
Among 2026's reduced approvals, the largest cuts were:
- Spinnaker Insurance Company, HO-6 condominium program: requested 30.0%, approved 10.0%.
- State Farm General, HO-3: requested 30.0%, approved 17.0%.
- ASI Select Insurance Corp.: requested 40.0%, approved 31.9%.
- Integon National Insurance Company: requested 11.8%, approved 4.0%.
- Farmers Insurance Exchange, with Fire Insurance Exchange and Mid-Century Insurance Company: requested 7.0%, approved 1.5%.
Approvals at 6.9% to 7.0%
A number of approvals sit at 6.9% to 7.0%: 13 in 2023, 10 in 2024, 2 in 2025, and 7 so far in 2026. In 2026 the group is California Automobile Insurance Company, California Casualty Indemnity Exchange, Garrison Property and Casualty Insurance Company, United Services Automobile Association, USAA Casualty Insurance Company, and USAA General Indemnity Company, all at 6.9%, and W Insurance Company at 7.0% (requested 9.8%). CSAA Insurance Exchange's HO-3 filing, at 6.99%, closed in December 2025.
Under California's rules, a timely consumer request for a hearing can require the Commissioner to hold one when a personal lines rate change exceeds 7%.
We put these two facts side by side because both are on the public record, not because the lists explain the pattern. CDI's spreadsheets show where approvals landed, not why an insurer filed the figure it did. When a filing's own documents give its reasoning, our filing reports summarize it with attribution.
How California reviews homeowners rates
California uses prior approval: under Proposition 103, the Insurance Commissioner must approve a homeowners rate before an insurer uses it. After a filing is publicly noticed, CDI has 60 days to approve it or issue a notice of hearing, and any member of the public can request a hearing within 45 days of the notice. More is on the California page.
California filings on FiledRates
- State Farm General, HO-3: 30.0% requested, 17.0% approved by final order, July 23, 2026.
- California Automobile Insurance Company: 6.9% approved as requested, June 2, 2026.
- Farmers Insurance Exchange: 7.0% requested, 1.5% approved, May 11, 2026.
- CSAA Insurance Exchange, HO-3: 6.99% approved as requested, Dec. 18, 2025.
How we counted
- Source: CDI's "Rate Filing Closed and Approved Filings" spreadsheets for 2023, 2024, 2025, and the year to date through Sept. 30, 2026. Each lists the filings CDI closed that year, with requested and approved overall change, status, closed date, and SERFF number.
- What counts: rows in the personal lines, homeowners multi-peril line whose filing type includes a rate change ("Rate," "Rate/Rule/Form," "Rate and Variance," and similar). Form-only and rule-only filings are excluded.
- Years: grouped by the year CDI closed the filing, not the year the insurer filed it.
- Counting: by company row, as CDI lists them. Distinct SERFF filings among the approved non-zero changes were 49 (2023), 47 (2024), 26 (2025), and 17 (2026 so far).
- The one decrease in the lists: Obsidian Pacific Insurance Company's file 24-2449 shows a 7.1% decrease, requested and approved, closed in 2025. CDI classifies it as a "transferred program" filing, not a rate filing, so it is outside the counts above.
- Rounding: CDI lists some figures to two decimals (6.99%); medians and cuts are rounded to one decimal.
- Figures are overall averages reported to CDI. Individual policyholders' changes vary.
Sources
- Rate Filing Closed and Approved Filings, 2023 (spreadsheet)
- Rate Filing Closed and Approved Filings, 2024 (spreadsheet)
- Rate Filing Closed and Approved Filings, 2025 (spreadsheet)
- Rate Filing Closed and Approved Filings, year to date through Sept. 30, 2026 (spreadsheet)
- Rate Filing Review Process and Bulletin 2024-14