Here's something most people don't realize about insuring a home in Beverly Hills: your biggest challenge isn't finding coverage for your multi-million-dollar property. It's finding coverage at all. In 2024, State Farm dropped nearly half of its policies in the famous 90210 ZIP code, leaving homeowners scrambling. One buyer walked away from a $19 million hillside estate when they learned fire insurance alone would cost $200,000 per year. Welcome to the new reality of Beverly Hills home insurance, where luxury meets risk in one of California's most exclusive neighborhoods.
Whether you're protecting a Platinum Triangle mansion or a hillside estate with panoramic views, understanding your insurance options is critical. Beverly Hills presents unique coverage challenges: earthquake vulnerability, wildfire exposure in designated high-risk zones, and replacement costs that can reach $10 million or more. Let's break down what you need to know to protect your investment.
What Makes Beverly Hills Home Insurance Different
The cost difference is staggering. While the average California homeowner pays around $1,700 annually for insurance, Beverly Hills residents in the 90210 ZIP code pay nearly $10,000 on average through major insurers. That's for homes with a typical value of $5.5 million. But here's where it gets complicated: those figures represent the shrinking number of homeowners who can still get traditional coverage.
High-value homes face a different calculation entirely. Properties worth over $1 million need specialized high-value home insurance, which typically covers homes from $1 million up to $100 million. These policies aren't just scaled-up versions of standard coverage. They include agreed-value protection, meaning if your home is destroyed, you receive the full insured amount without depreciation arguments. They also provide extended replacement cost coverage, crucial when rebuild costs in Beverly Hills can balloon due to strict building codes, labor shortages, and premium materials.
For celebrity homeowners and public figures, there's another layer. You're not just insuring walls and roofs. You need coverage for domestic employees, including workers' compensation extensions for full-time staff. You need higher personal liability limits because lawsuits against high-profile individuals often seek massive damages. And you need specialized endorsements for valuable collections, whether that's fine art, wine cellars, or jewelry that appreciates over time.
The Earthquake Insurance Question
Let's clear up a common misconception: earthquake insurance is not required by law in California. But if you have homeowners insurance, your insurer must offer you earthquake coverage in writing every two years. Most Beverly Hills homeowners should seriously consider taking that offer.
Here's why: your standard homeowners policy doesn't cover earthquake damage, except for fires caused by earthquakes. If a major quake damages your foundation, cracks your walls, or shifts your hillside property, you're paying out of pocket without earthquake coverage. For a $5 million home, California earthquake insurance typically costs between $1,248 and $2,744 annually for $500,000 in coverage. But you'll likely need much higher limits to match your home's replacement cost.
The catch is the deductible. California Earthquake Authority policies come with deductibles of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% of your coverage limit. On a $5 million policy, even a 10% deductible means you're covering the first $500,000 in damage yourself. That's painful, but it's better than covering all $5 million. You must purchase earthquake insurance through the same company that provides your homeowners policy, and you can't get it unless you have underlying property insurance in place.
Wildfire Risk and the Insurance Crisis
This is where Beverly Hills homeowners face their toughest challenge. The area north of Sunset Boulevard and several blocks to the south fall within California's designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. These hillside properties, often with the most dramatic views and highest values, also carry the greatest wildfire exposure.
The insurance industry responded by fleeing. When State Farm announced in March 2024 that it was discontinuing 72,000 policies statewide, including 30,000 homes, Beverly Hills took a massive hit. Nearly 70% of the dropped policies were in ZIP codes where median home prices exceeded $1 million. For some homeowners, the consequences were severe. One resident found himself paying $22,000 annually for a State Farm policy that covered only 40% of his home's $10 million replacement cost. Others faced annual premiums exceeding $200,000 for full coverage on hillside estates.
When traditional insurers drop coverage, homeowners typically turn to California's FAIR Plan, the insurer of last resort. But FAIR Plan coverage is limited and expensive, often providing only bare-bones protection. The good news is that California regulators are fighting back. New rules require insurers to increase coverage in high-risk areas by 5% every two years until they reach 85% of their market share. This won't solve the problem overnight, but it may ease the crisis over time.
What High-Value Homeowners Need to Know
If your Beverly Hills home is worth $1 million or more, standard homeowners insurance won't cut it. You need a high-value or luxury home insurance policy with several critical features. First, demand agreed-value coverage. This means you and your insurer agree upfront on your home's value. If disaster strikes, there's no negotiation over depreciation or actual cash value. You get the agreed amount, period.
Second, get extended replacement cost coverage of at least 125% to 150% of your home's value. Rebuilding in Beverly Hills is expensive. Labor costs surge after major disasters when contractors are in high demand. Building codes may have changed since your home was built, requiring costly upgrades. Premium materials that match your home's original quality don't come cheap. That extra 25% to 50% buffer can mean the difference between fully rebuilding and running out of money mid-construction.
Third, add scheduled personal property endorsements for valuable items. Standard policies cap coverage for jewelry, art, and collectibles at relatively low amounts. If you own pieces worth six or seven figures, schedule them individually with appraisals. The same goes for wine collections, which can appreciate significantly over time. Don't assume your base policy covers these items adequately.
Fourth, secure umbrella liability coverage with limits of at least $5 million, preferably $10 million or more. High-net-worth individuals are attractive lawsuit targets. Whether it's a slip-and-fall at your property or a car accident involving your household, plaintiffs' attorneys look at your assets when determining damages to seek. An umbrella policy extends your liability protection far beyond your home and auto policies' limits.
How to Get Started with Beverly Hills Home Insurance
Start by working with an independent insurance broker who specializes in high-value homes and has access to multiple carriers. The Beverly Hills market is too complex for a one-size-fits-all approach. A specialized broker knows which insurers are still writing policies in fire-hazard zones, which ones offer the best coverage for earthquake risk, and how to structure policies to minimize gaps.
Get a professional replacement cost appraisal, not just a market value. Your home's market price includes land value and location premium. Replacement cost is what it would actually cost to rebuild your structure from scratch. In Beverly Hills, these figures can differ dramatically. That appraisal becomes the foundation for your coverage limits.
Document everything. Create a detailed home inventory with photos and videos of every room. For valuable items, maintain appraisals, purchase receipts, and certificates of authenticity. Store these records off-site or in cloud storage. After a major loss, memory fails and documentation becomes your proof of what you owned.
Finally, invest in risk mitigation. Installing fire-resistant roofing, creating defensible space around your property, and upgrading to earthquake-resistant retrofitting can sometimes qualify you for premium discounts. More importantly, these improvements actually protect your home. The best insurance claim is the one you never have to file. Beverly Hills homeowners face unique challenges, but with the right coverage and preparation, you can protect your investment even in California's volatile insurance market.
