It means California property owners will likely be billed from their private insurers to help compensate the FAIR Plan.

The California FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, has received approval to assess its member carriers $1 billion to help pay its L.A. fire losses -- with consumers possibly on hook for nearly half under new state policy.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has requested $1 billion in additional funds from the commission's member insurers to shore up the state-backed FAIR Plan after wildfires ravaged swathes of land in and around Los Angeles last month.

In the wake of the Los Angeles fires, the California FAIR Plan, the state's property insurer of last resort, requested approval for $1 billion from the California insurance commissioner, which he approved the same day. That money will be assessed from all home insurers operating in the state.

The California FAIR Plan does not have enough money to weather the impact of the record-breaking Los Angeles wildfires on its own. Instead, it will turn to private insurers for help — triggering a process where insured California homeowners across the state will end up paying part of the bill.

After saying it would run out of funds by March, California’s last-resort fire insurance provider will impose a special charge of $1 billion on homeowners and insurance companies, the first such move in more than three decades.

The California FAIR Plan Association, a consortium of all insurers licensed to provide property insurance in the state, has received approval for an

That’s enough to kick the plan’s strained finances further into crisis mode, increasing the chances that homeowners statewide will see insurance costs rise.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has approved the California Fair Plan’s request to levy a $1bn assessment on its member insurance companies to help pay for wildfire losses, according to the state’s Department of Insurance (CDI).