Home insurance coverage falters as California wildfires worsen

• Growing fire risk results in 'non-renewal' of policies
• Homeowners seeking replacement insurance face high costs
• Insurers say rate rises needed as wildfire losses grow

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"Many people here are seniors on a fixed income or young couples with children in their first home," Southwick said. "So yes, people are unhappy, people are hurting."

The residents of Canyon Park Villas are part of a growing flood of California homeowners being forced into the world of last-resort insurance, where prices can be astronomical.

Their case is extreme, but the problem is increasingly common: As climate-change-fueled disasters worsen, insurance against them is becoming unaffordable, leaving many families, organizations and governments at growing financial risk.

Between 2015 and 2021, over 1.3 million Californians had their fire coverage dropped by an insurer, out of a total of around 10 million total polices in the state, according to data gathered by the California Insurance Commissioner's office.

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