A recent rule change could cause a spike in insurance premium for homeowners across California, as the costs of the Los Angeles area wildfires are passed onto them in a way that was not allowed in the past.

Note that policy costs in these high-risk states, minus California, averaged $5,040 – roughly 150% more than Golden State prices. And the 48-state average policy of $3,200 is 50% above California’s cost. Insurance companies are not saints, but you want them to be profitable.

The California FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, had just $377 million available last week to pay claims that could reach billions, officials said.

With the fires in Los Angeles still burning, the cost of their destruction, beyond the lives lost, remains unknown, but is certain to total in the tens of billions of dollars.

Many LA homeowners were dropped by their insurance companies a year before the fires. Is there a better way to make the insurance industry more affordable and sustainable?