Manufactured Housing News

Wildfire Coverage, Earthquake Gaps, & How to Protect Your Investment

Owning a manufactured or mobile home in California comes with a unique set of insurance challenges. Whether you live more inland or along the coast, you’re dealing with a high-risk environment shaped by wildfires, earthquakes, and a rapidly changing insurance market. Understanding what your policy does and doesn’t cover is the key to protecting your investment.

Wildfire Risk Is Driving the Insurance Crisis

Wildfires are the single biggest factor impacting manufactured home insurance in California today. Over the past decade, catastrophic fires have caused billions in insured losses, forcing many major insurers to reduce coverage or stop writing new policies in high-risk areas altogether.

For homeowners, that means fewer choices, higher premiums, and in some cases, policy non-renewals. Even properties outside traditional fire zones are being affected as insurers reassess their risk across the whole state.

If you can still secure a standard policy, you’ll want to make sure it includes:

• Dwelling coverage for wildfire damage
• Extended replacement cost coverage (important due to high rebuild costs)
• Debris removal and cleanup after a fire

Why Coverage Is Getting Harder to Find

California’s insurance market is shrinking. Several large insurers have paused or restricted new policies because wildfire losses and rebuilding costs have outpaced what they can charge in premiums under state regulations.

As a result:

• Policies are more expensive
• Underwriting is stricter (especially for older manufactured homes)
• More homeowners are being pushed into basic or “bare bones” coverage options

State regulators are working on reforms to stabilize the market and expand coverage in wildfire-prone areas, but changes are still unfolding.

The Earthquake Coverage Gap

Here’s a critical point many manufactured homeowners overlook: standard insurance does NOT cover earthquake damage.

In California, earthquake insurance must typically be purchased separately.

That means if a quake damages your home’s foundation, walls, or supports, you could be paying out of pocket unless you have a dedicated policy for it. Manufactured homes can be especially vulnerable to ground movement, making this coverage worth serious consideration.

However, earthquake policies can sometimes come with higher deductibles and often have limited coverage that mostly helps with major structural loss.

For many homeowners, it becomes a risk calculation: can you afford the premium, and can you afford the loss if you skip it?

Don’t Overlook Coverage Gaps

Between wildfire exclusions, earthquake gaps, and policy limits, a lot of manufactured homeowners in California are underinsured. In fact, studies have shown that a large percentage of insurance payouts after disasters fall short of the full rebuilding costs.

Important gaps to watch for include:

• Underinsured dwelling limits due to rising construction costs
• Lack of ordinance or law coverage (needed to meet updated building codes)
• No coverage for detached structures or additions like carports or sheds

How to Better Protect Your Manufactured Home

While the insurance landscape is challenging, there are some steps you can take:

• Harden your home against wildfire risk with defensible space, fire-resistant materials, and proper skirting
• Ask about bundled policies
• Review your policy annually to keep up with changing rebuild costs
• Work with a specialist familiar with manufactured homes, not just standard homeowners’ policies

Manufactured home insurance in California is more complex than ever. Wildfire risk is reshaping the market, earthquake coverage remains optional—but critical—and many homeowners are left navigating limited and expensive options. By understanding these risks and closing any coverage gaps, you can better protect your home and finances in an unpredictable environment.