Residual Markets
When no standard insurer will write you a policy, the residual market is what's left. The pages here explain what each state's plan actually covers, what it doesn't, and how to apply — without sugarcoating the gaps.
What a residual market is
A residual market (also called an insurer of last resort) is a state-created insurance pool for homeowners the private market has refused. California calls its plan the FAIR Plan; Florida and Louisiana each run a Citizens Property Insurance Corporation; most other states have something smaller and narrower. Different names, same job: coverage when nobody else will write you.
A few traits repeat across nearly all of them, and they matter. You apply through any licensed agent or broker, never directly. Coverage is usually narrower than a standard homeowners policy — flood is never included, liability sometimes isn't, and limits may sit below your rebuild cost. Premiums are deliberately set high so the plans don't compete with private insurers. And most carry assessment authority: after a catastrophic year, the shortfall can be spread across policyholders statewide, including people who never held a plan policy.
The pages below cover the largest plans in depth — what each covers, what it excludes, what it costs, and how solvent it actually is. If your state isn't covered here yet, your state's page under Is My ZIP Next has a residual-market section with the essentials.