Homeowners Insurance Non-Renewal in California: Your Evidence Rights, Step by Step
⚠️ READ THIS FIRST: the aerial-imagery bill is PROPOSED — it is NOT California law yet
AB 1559, an aerial-imagery fairness bill, has been introduced in the California Legislature (referred to the Senate insurance committee on June 10, 2026) and, as of the verification date below, has not been enacted. Nothing on this page describes it as current law. What exists today is described in the "What you can do now" section — insurer correction practice and the Department of Insurance complaint route. If AB 1559 passes, this page will be updated and re-dated within 5 business days.
Last verified against source: October 19, 2026 · Sources: AB 1559 (2026), legislative status via the California Legislative Information system; CA FAIR Plan statistics (Assembly Insurance Committee, Jan 2026) — insurance.ca.gov
What AB 1559 would do — if it becomes law
As introduced, the bill would:
Require notice when an insurer takes aerial imagery of a home for underwriting.
Give homeowners the images on request — the right to see what the insurer saw.
Bar non-renewals based on images more than 180 days old, unless the insurer verifies the condition with an in-person inspection. A stale photo, alone, would no longer be enough.
That is a strong bill. It is also, today, only a bill. Anyone who tells you California law already gives you these rights is ahead of the Legislature.
What you can do now (the practice-based path — labeled honestly)
California has no enacted imagery-cure statute today. The working path is practice, not entitlement:
Ask for the images and the specific reason, in writing. Many carriers operate correction windows as a matter of practice — at least one major carrier publicly gives homeowners 60+ days to correct inaccuracies in its records. Ask, get the answer in writing, and keep the paper trail.
Submit dated ground evidence anyway. A licensed professional's report, invoices, and permits are the currency of every correction conversation — the same evidence ladder AB 1559 would formalize. Insurers correct records when the documentation is undeniable, statute or no statute.
Escalate to the Department of Insurance. A complaint with the California Department of Insurance (insurance.ca.gov) is the escalation that exists today, and complaint patterns are part of how bills like AB 1559 build their record.
Know your score rights. As of 2026, California policyholders in wildfire areas may request their wildfire risk score, an explanation, and the mitigation steps that could improve it — a "know your score" right that already exists, separate from AB 1559.
The FAIR Plan reality
668,609 Californians held CA FAIR Plan policies as of December 2025 (696,562 by June 2026) — the last-resort plan is the default destination after a non-renewal, at premiums well above the voluntary market, for fire coverage that typically needs a wrap policy to be complete. That is what a successful evidence submission avoids — and why the packet matters even without a statute behind it.
Your clock
No statutory cure period exists in California today. Your notice's effective date is the wall; the practice-based correction window is whatever your carrier confirms in writing — one more reason the first written request goes out the day the letter arrives.
What GroundProof does in California
The Dispute Sprint ($99 flat), labeled honestly at intake as "no statutory cure right — practice-based": we assemble your dated records and a professional report where the case needs one into the packet a correction review can act on, draft the image/correction request for you to send, and track your deadline. You submit in your own name. We organize documentation; we do not negotiate with your insurer, file on your behalf, or promise an outcome — in California especially, no honest service can promise one today.