By the Awan Insurance Team · Reviewed by Shahbaz Awan, Licensed California Insurance Agent (CA Lic #0H95098)
If your renewal jumped, or a letter showed up saying your carrier isn't renewing you, you're not doing anything wrong — and you're not alone in Highland. Here's how home insurance actually works in this city, which carriers still write here, and what to do if the standard market has already told you no.
There's no single "best" home insurance company in Highland — the best policy is the one that will actually cover your home at replacement cost, from a carrier willing to write your ZIP and your brush exposure. For most Highland homes that means a standard carrier like Farmers, Mercury, Safeco, or Progressive. For homes close to the foothills that have already been declined, it usually means a FAIR Plan policy paired with a DIC wrap. The right answer depends on where your home sits relative to the fire hazard zone.
Highland sits right where the San Bernardino Valley floor runs into the foothills, and that geography drives almost everything about insuring a home here. A house south of Base Line gets underwritten very differently from one up near the mouth of City Creek — sometimes by the same carrier, sometimes at double the premium, and sometimes not at all. Below is what actually determines which policies are available to you, in plain terms.
What Makes a Home Insurance Policy “Best” in Highland?
When people search for the “best” home insurance, they usually mean cheapest. In a city with Highland's fire profile, that instinct can cost you your house. The policy that pays to rebuild is worth more than the one that saved you $200 — and in the foothill ZIPs, the policy that exists at all is worth more still.
Enough to rebuild
Your dwelling limit should reflect what it costs to rebuild today — a construction number, not your purchase price or Zillow estimate.
Fire coverage that holds
A policy that survives underwriting review after a bad fire season is worth more than a cheap one that doesn't get renewed.
Extended replacement cost
Adds a cushion above your dwelling limit for when rebuild costs spike after a regional disaster.
Real liability limits
Enough to protect your equity and savings — not just the minimum your lender will accept.
A carrier that stays
Non-renewal is expensive and stressful. Stability matters more than the first-year price.
Then price
Once those five are handled — absolutely. We'll work the premium down every way that doesn't cost you coverage.
A homeowner insures for the purchase price or the Zillow estimate. Those are market values — they include land, and land doesn't burn. Rebuild cost is a construction number, and in San Bernardino County it has moved a lot in the last few years. Ask for a replacement-cost estimate rather than guessing.
How Does Highland's Wildfire Risk Affect What You'll Pay?
Highland appears on the California Office of the State Fire Marshal's list of cities with recommended Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones in Local Responsibility Areas, alongside neighbors like Redlands, Yucaipa, Loma Linda, and San Bernardino. On June 10, 2025, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 4489 designating fire hazard severity zones across the county Fire District's Local Responsibility Areas. The updated state maps now classify land as moderate, high, or very high — where the older maps showed only the very high tier.
That matters for a practical reason: carriers price off those zones, and a reclassification can change your rate or your eligibility without anything about your house changing.
| Where your home sits | Typical market | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Valley floor, south & west Highland | Standard market | Multiple carriers competing; most discounts available |
| Mid-city, moderate or high zone | Standard, tighter | Fewer carriers; brush clearance and roof inspections common |
| Foothill edge, very high zone | Limited | May need FAIR Plan + DIC wrap; hardening credits matter most |
Parcels a few streets apart can land in different tiers. You can look your address up on the state's Fire Hazard Severity Zone viewer — or call us and we'll pull it while you're on the phone.
Which Insurance Carriers Actually Write Homes in Highland?
Here's the part that surprises people. Awan Insurance is a Farmers agency, and Farmers is our primary carrier — but we are not limited to one company. Through Kraft Lake, the brokerage available to Farmers agents, we can access effectively every carrier writing homeowners business in California, with one exception: the direct and captive writers who only sell through their own agents.
In practice that means when a home doesn't fit one carrier's appetite, the conversation isn't over — it moves to the next market. Farmers, Foremost, and Bristol West sit alongside a broad panel including Mercury, Progressive, Safeco, Bamboo, SageSure, Aegis, and National General. We match you to the market that fits your home, rather than fitting your home into one company's box.
Want the statewide picture first? Our California home insurance overview covers how coverage is structured before you get into local specifics.
What If You've Already Been Declined or Non-Renewed?
Getting a non-renewal notice is genuinely unsettling, especially when you've never filed a claim. It usually isn't about you — it's a carrier reducing its concentration in a fire-exposed area. Here's what happens next.
The California FAIR Plan is the state's insurer of last resort. It isn't a government program — it's a pool funded by every admitted property insurer in California, and you can only buy it through a licensed agent or broker. Three changes are worth knowing:
- Dwelling limits up to $3 million for residential property, per the California Department of Insurance. The Commissioner first ordered the increase to $3 million in November 2019, doubling a limit that had held for two decades.
- Eligibility rests on a diligent search, not a declination count. Your broker searches the traditional marketplace; the FAIR Plan is explicit that if coverage is available there, the FAIR Plan is not right for you. Insurance Code section 10090 defines that market to include both admitted insurers and licensed surplus line brokers — so surplus lines is a step to take before the FAIR Plan.
- One-to-four unit dwellings are covered under the FAIR Plan's dwelling program, whether owner-occupied or rented, along with seasonal rentals, renters' personal property, and condominium unit owners.
A standard FAIR Plan dwelling policy covers fire, smoke, and internal explosion — and that's largely it. No liability, no theft, no water damage. That's why most people pair it with a Difference in Conditions (DIC) policy from a separate carrier to restore what's missing. Buying the FAIR Plan alone and assuming you're covered like before is the single most expensive misunderstanding in California home insurance right now.
How Much Does Home Insurance Cost in Highland?
Statewide averages give you a ballpark, but your ZIP, your rebuild cost, and your fire zone move the number far more than any average does.
The gap between those two numbers is the real cost of losing standard-market eligibility — and it's why keeping a home insurable is worth more than shaving $200 off a premium.
Two homes on the same Highland street can price differently based on roof age, construction, brush clearance, and claims history. Any site that hands you a firm premium without those details is guessing. We'd rather run it properly and tell you the truth.
What Coverage Actually Matters on a Highland Home?
Highland sits in earthquake country as well as fire country — the San Andreas runs along the base of the mountains just north of the city. Standard homeowners policies exclude earthquake, the same way they exclude flood. That's not a loophole; it's how every policy in California is built. Earthquake coverage is bought separately, often through the California Earthquake Authority.
- Replacement cost, not actual cash value. ACV depreciates your roof and contents; replacement cost pays to actually replace them.
- Extended replacement cost. After a large fire, construction demand spikes. This adds a cushion above your dwelling limit.
- Ordinance or law coverage. Rebuilding to current code costs more than what you had. This pays the difference.
- Loss of use. Pays for somewhere to live while your home is rebuilt — which after a wildfire can be a long time.
- Liability. Match it to what you'd actually need to protect, then consider an umbrella if your equity has grown.
How Can You Lower Your Premium Without Gutting Your Coverage?
Harden the home
Class A roofing, ember-resistant vents, and defensible space can earn credits — and in a very high zone they can be the difference between insurable and not.
Bundle home and auto
Usually the largest single discount available, and the easiest one to capture. For households with a driver 55 or older, see car insurance for California seniors.
Claim what you qualify for
Alarm systems, water shutoff devices, new roofs, and paid-in-full all commonly go unclaimed.
Tune the deductible
Raising it lowers the premium — only do it if you'd comfortably cover that amount tomorrow.
Review annually
The California market is moving fast enough that last year's answer may not be this year's.
What we'd never suggest
Dropping to bare-minimum liability, removing extended replacement cost, or under-insuring the dwelling to hit a price.
The Bottom Line
The best home insurance in Highland is the policy that will still be there — and still pay enough to rebuild — after the worst day. For most homes here that's a standard carrier; for homes tucked against the foothills it may be a FAIR Plan policy with a DIC wrap, and that's a perfectly sound outcome when it's built correctly.
If your renewal jumped or you've been non-renewed, the useful next step isn't shopping a price — it's finding out which markets will write your specific address. That's a fifteen-minute conversation, and we have it every day with families a few minutes from our office.
Related Questions
Is home insurance required in Highland, California?
Not by state law. But if you have a mortgage, your lender will require it, and usually enough coverage to rebuild the home. If your policy lapses, lenders can buy force-placed coverage on your behalf — typically far more expensive, and it protects them, not you.
Does homeowners insurance cover wildfire damage?
Yes. Fire, including wildfire, is a covered peril on a standard California homeowners policy. The problem in high-risk areas isn't whether fire is covered — it's whether a carrier will offer you a policy at all, and whether your dwelling limit is high enough to actually rebuild.
What happens if my insurer non-renews me?
You'll get advance written notice. Use that window — it's enough time to look at other standard carriers, and then the surplus lines market, before falling back on the FAIR Plan. There's no fixed number of declinations that qualifies you: eligibility rests on your broker's diligent search of the traditional marketplace, and if coverage is available there, the FAIR Plan isn't the right answer.
Do I need earthquake insurance in Highland?
It's not required, but standard homeowners policies exclude earthquake damage, and Highland sits near the San Andreas fault zone. It's bought separately, commonly through the California Earthquake Authority. Whether it's worth it depends on your home's construction and your financial cushion.
Can I get home insurance in Highland if I've had a claim?
Usually yes, though your options narrow. A single water claim affects you differently than multiple fire-related claims. This is exactly where access to several markets helps — one carrier's decline isn't the end of the conversation.
Is the FAIR Plan more expensive than regular home insurance?
Generally yes, and it covers less. Reported statewide FAIR Plan averages run well above the standard-market average, and because it's fire-only you'll usually add a DIC policy on top. That's why it's a fallback rather than a first choice.
Last reviewed August 2026 by Shahbaz Awan, Licensed California Insurance Agent (CA Lic #0H95098). Figures cited from CAL FIRE, the California FAIR Plan Association, and the California Department of Insurance were current as of publication; California's property market is changing quickly, so verify current limits and requirements before making a decision.