Finding homeowners insurance in California has become one of the more frustrating experiences a property owner can face. Admitted carriers are pulling back, premiums are climbing in wildfire-risk areas, and the FAIR Plan has become a default for too many homeowners who deserve real private coverage. Solara Insurance has entered that gap — a California-licensed Excess and Surplus lines insurer writing full HO-3 policies for homes the standard market has left behind.
Old Harbor Insurance works with specialty programs like Solara and 81 carrier relationships across California, helping homeowners identify coverage that fits their property, location, and budget — including in areas where admitted carriers no longer write.
What Is Solara Insurance?
Solara Insurance — formally Solara Specialty Insurance Solutions — is a California-licensed E&S lines insurance brokerage (CA License #6018206) offering an exclusive non-admitted HO-3 homeowners product. The company was purpose-built for California’s evolving risk landscape, using proprietary wildfire analytics and local underwriting expertise to assess eligibility at the individual property level rather than by ZIP code.
Solara is backed by one of Florida’s largest homeowners insurers, holding a Financial Stability Rating of A (Exceptional) from Demotech, Inc. That underwriting partner manages over $800 million in in-force premium and approximately 200,000 policyholders — bringing catastrophe claims experience, reinsurance depth, and capital stability specifically suited for high-risk markets.
What Does Solara Insurance Cover?
Solara writes HO-3 policies — the most comprehensive standard homeowners form available. An HO-3 is written on an open-perils basis for the dwelling and other structures, meaning coverage applies to all risks except those specifically excluded. Both primary and secondary homes are eligible, with tailored limits available based on your property’s specific characteristics.
A standard Solara policy covers dwelling protection, other structures on the property, personal property, loss of use if the home becomes uninhabitable, and liability coverage for third-party injury or property damage claims. The program also offers mitigation credits for home hardening improvements — fire-resistant roofing, defensible space compliance, and ember-resistant vents — that can meaningfully reduce your premium.
Wildfire Coverage
Solara was built with explicit wildfire appetite for moderate and high-risk California properties. The company’s proprietary wildfire analytics assess each home individually, accounting for slope, vegetation, construction type, and proximity to fuel breaks. This property-level approach differs significantly from carriers that apply blanket ZIP code exclusions — meaning homes that have been declined elsewhere may still qualify with Solara.
What Isn’t Covered
Like all standard homeowners policies, Solara’s HO-3 does not include flood insurance. Flood coverage is written separately — either through a private carrier or the National Flood Insurance Program via FEMA. If your property sits in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area with a federally-backed mortgage, flood coverage is legally required regardless of your homeowners carrier.
How Solara Insurance Works
Solara operates as a non-admitted E&S carrier, which means policies are distributed through licensed independent agents — not directly through a consumer portal. The California Department of Insurance requires non-admitted carriers to operate through licensed surplus lines brokers, but being non-admitted doesn’t mean unregulated or unreliable. E&S carriers simply have more pricing flexibility than admitted carriers, which is precisely why they can write risks the standard market declines.
The practical difference worth knowing: the California Insurance Guarantee Association — the state’s safety net for insolvent admitted carriers — does not cover E&S policies. This is why Solara’s Demotech A financial rating carries real weight. Strong carrier financials are the equivalent protection in the E&S space.
How the Quoting Process Works
Solara policies can be quoted and bound within minutes through their digital platform — a notable contrast to the weeks-long timelines some California homeowners face when pursuing specialty coverage. The process runs entirely through a licensed independent agent with access to Solara’s program.
- Reach out to a licensed independent agent who carries Solara in their market access
- Share your property address — Solara evaluates each home on its own merits, not its ZIP code
- Walk through your property details — construction type, roof age and material, year built, square footage
- Share your claims history — insurers typically look back 3–5 years
- Review your options — your agent compares Solara against other available programs so you can make an informed decision
Why California Homeowners Are Searching for Specialty Insurers
The California Department of Insurance’s wildfire insurance data tracks non-renewals and policy availability at the ZIP code level — and the picture it paints is stark. Major admitted carriers have significantly reduced their California exposure due to wildfire losses, rising reinsurance costs, and construction inflation driven by the California Construction Cost Index, which has pushed rebuild estimates sharply higher over the past several years.
The result is a market where homeowners in wildfire-exposed ZIP codes face a shrinking pool of admitted options. Many have landed on the California FAIR Plan — a state-mandated last-resort program providing basic fire coverage to those who can’t obtain private insurance. The FAIR Plan does not include liability, theft, or additional living expense coverage, which is exactly the comprehensive gap that specialty carriers like Solara exist to fill.
How Natural Disasters Are Reshaping the Market
The scale of recent losses explains why the market has shifted so dramatically. The NOAA Billion-Dollar Disaster Database tracks major U.S. weather disasters and their economic costs — data that insurers use to model future catastrophe exposure. RAND research on wildfire risk and insurance further confirms that as wildfire risk increases, insurance availability decreases and premiums rise in affected regions — a dynamic playing out across California in real time.
This isn’t a temporary market correction. Research from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners highlights how climate-driven catastrophe exposure is fundamentally reshaping homeowners insurance markets nationally, with California among the most acutely affected states.
What Drives Homeowners Insurance Pricing in California
Insurance quotes in California are shaped by several compounding variables. Wildfire risk exposure is the dominant factor for most properties — assessed today using satellite imagery, vegetation mapping, and construction data rather than just historical loss records.
Roof age and material, home construction type, prior claims history, and distance from fire protection services all layer into the final premium calculation. Rebuild cost — the amount required to reconstruct your home at current labor and materials prices — drives your dwelling coverage limit. This figure is often higher than expected given California’s elevated construction costs, and underinsuring it is one of the most common and costly mistakes homeowners make after a total loss.
How Old Harbor Insurance Helps You Access Solara
Solara policies require a licensed agent with access to their program. Old Harbor Insurance works with 81 carrier relationships — including admitted markets, surplus lines programs, and specialty insurers like Solara — and can compare your options across the full market in a single conversation.
For homeowners facing non-renewal, ZIP code-level declines, or FAIR Plan dependency, Old Harbor’s independent access means you’re not limited to one carrier’s appetite or one program’s eligibility criteria. An agent reviews your property profile, identifies which carriers are currently writing it, and presents a clear comparison of pricing, coverage structure, and carrier financial strength.
Find Out If You Qualify for Solara Coverage Today
California’s private insurance market is tighter than it’s been in decades — but specialty programs exist precisely for this environment. The question is whether your property qualifies and what the best available option looks like across the full market.
Contact Old Harbor Insurance at (951) 297-9740, email info@oldharbor.com, or get a quote online in just a few minutes. A licensed agent will review your property and come back with real options — including Solara and any other programs that fit your risk and budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Solara Insurance an insurance company or an insurance broker?
Solara Specialty Insurance Solutions operates as an E&S lines insurance brokerage offering an exclusive non-admitted homeowners product. The company is California-licensed (CA #6018206) and backed by a financially rated underwriting partner, but distributes coverage through licensed independent agents rather than directly to consumers.
Does Solara Insurance cover homes in wildfire-risk areas?
Yes. Solara was built specifically with wildfire capacity for California properties in moderate and high-risk areas. Eligibility is assessed at the individual property level using proprietary wildfire analytics — not by ZIP code — which means homes declined by other carriers due to location may still qualify based on their actual risk characteristics.
How is Solara different from the California FAIR Plan?
The FAIR Plan provides only basic fire coverage without liability, theft, or additional living expense protection. Solara writes full HO-3 policies covering all of those components, making it a significantly more comprehensive private market alternative for homeowners who qualify.
Why does Solara use a non-admitted structure rather than being an admitted carrier?
Non-admitted E&S carriers have more flexibility in pricing and underwriting than admitted carriers, which are subject to California’s Proposition 103 rate-filing requirements. This flexibility allows Solara to write wildfire-exposed properties that admitted carriers can’t price competitively under the current regulatory framework.
What information do I need to get a Solara quote?
You’ll need your property address, year built, roof age and material, construction type, square footage, and prior claims history for the last 3–5 years. Having an estimate of your home’s rebuild cost ready — not its market value — will also speed up the quoting process.
How long does it take to get a Solara quote?
According to Solara, the majority of homes can be quoted and bound within minutes through their digital platform. Working with a licensed independent agent who already has access to Solara’s program eliminates the setup time and gets you to a quote faster.
What mitigation improvements can lower my Solara premium?
Solara offers credits for home hardening measures, including fire-resistant roofing materials, defensible space compliance, and ember-resistant vents. If you’ve invested in any of these improvements, documenting them before your quote can result in meaningfully lower premiums compared to an unimproved property in the same area.