Liberty Mutual does still cover California, but its lineup there is smaller than it used to be. The company continues to sell homeowners, auto, landlord, and umbrella insurance in the state, and it operates a commercial insurance division that serves California businesses.1Liberty Mutual. Commercial Solutions Renters, condo, dwelling fire, motorcycle, specialty vehicle, and certain non-standard auto policies are being wound down or transferred to another carrier.2Insurance Business Magazine. Safeco To Exit Specialty Insurance Lines in California by 2026
What You Can Still Buy From Liberty Mutual in California
Liberty Mutual’s website lists California as a state where homeowners insurance quotes are available, and the company has identified auto, home, landlord, and umbrella insurance as its continuing “core products” in the state.2Insurance Business Magazine. Safeco To Exit Specialty Insurance Lines in California by 2026
As of mid-2025, Liberty Mutual’s parent group held roughly 6% of the California home insurance market, making it the sixth-largest home insurer in the state. Its Safeco subsidiary was the fourth-largest homeowners provider.3San Francisco Chronicle. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. California Market Data AM Best rates the company A++ with a stable outlook.
What Liberty Mutual Has Dropped in California
The retreat has come in waves, each affecting a different product line and a different group of policyholders.
Dwelling Fire Policies
Starting in September 2023, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company began non-renewing about 17,000 dwelling fire policies in California, a process that ran through November 2024.4San Francisco Chronicle. Liberty Mutual Drops 17,000 Dwelling Fire Policies in California Dwelling fire coverage is a limited product commonly held by landlords and vacation homeowners. The company said the decision was driven by the need to retire “antiquated” technology used to manage these policies and that it was “not specific to California and not related to fire risk.”5ABC7 News. 17,000 Liberty Mutual Customers in California Lose Dwelling Fire Insurance
Renters and Condo Policies
In late December 2024, Liberty Mutual announced it would exit the California condo and renters markets, affecting roughly 88,000 policyholders.6Press Democrat. Liberty Mutual Exiting Condo, Rental Insurance Market Safeco stopped writing new condo, renters, and watercraft policies in January 2025. Non-renewals of existing policies under the Liberty Insurance Corporation umbrella began in January 2026, with the full withdrawal expected to take about two years.7CBS News San Francisco. Liberty Mutual Plans To Exit California Condo and Rental Insurance Markets The Liberty Mutual renters insurance page no longer lists California as an available state.8Liberty Mutual. Renters Insurance
Motorcycles, Specialty Vehicles, and Non-Standard Auto
Beginning in 2026, Safeco stopped writing new policies in California for motorcycles, motor homes, travel trailers, antique and classic cars, and “non-good driver” standard auto products, and it began non-renewing existing policies in those categories.2Insurance Business Magazine. Safeco To Exit Specialty Insurance Lines in California by 2026 Drivers with less-than-good driving records are also being dropped.9United Policyholders. Liberty Mutual Company Safeco Drops Condo Coverage and Renters Insurance
The company has described the cuts as part of a plan to “simplify” its offerings and focus on core lines, and it said many of the discontinued products had “underperformed over the past decade.”7CBS News San Francisco. Liberty Mutual Plans To Exit California Condo and Rental Insurance Markets
The Safeco Name Is Gone
Liberty Mutual retired the Safeco Insurance brand on April 25, 2026. Personal lines products previously sold under the Safeco name are now marketed under the Liberty Mutual brand.10Liberty Mutual Group. Liberty Mutual Insurance Retires Safeco Brand For existing policyholders, the change is cosmetic. Coverage, premiums, and agent relationships stay the same, and no new underwriting is required.11IA Magazine. Safeco Rebrand to Liberty Mutual: What Independent Agents Need to Know Products sold through independent agents remain separate from Liberty Mutual’s direct-to-consumer offerings.
Where Dropped Customers Are Being Sent
In August 2025, Liberty Mutual set up a transition arrangement with Mercury Insurance for customers losing Safeco renters, condo, and select auto coverage. Liberty Mutual is recommending that its independent agents move affected policyholders to Mercury, and Mercury is vetting Safeco-appointed agents who don’t already carry a Mercury appointment.12PR Newswire. Mercury Insurance and Safeco Insurance Announce Plans To Transition California Customers and Agents Mercury CEO Gabriel Tirador said the company “saw an opportunity for Mercury to be there for California consumers and agents when they need us most.”13Insurance Business Magazine. Mercury Insurance To Take Over Thousands of Safeco Policies in California Neither company disclosed exactly how many policies would move or when the transition would finish.
If You Got a Non-Renewal Notice
California law requires insurers to give homeowners at least 75 days’ notice before a non-renewal takes effect.14United Policyholders. Liberty Mutual Pulls Fire Insurance From 17,000 Customers in California Start shopping for a replacement policy right away rather than waiting for the current policy to lapse. An independent broker can reach regional and specialty carriers that don’t show up in direct-to-consumer channels.
Check whether your property sits inside a wildfire moratorium area. Under California Insurance Code section 675.1, insurers can’t cancel or non-renew residential property policies for one year after a Governor-declared state of emergency if the property is in or adjacent to the wildfire perimeter.15California Department of Insurance. Mandatory One-Year Moratorium on Non-Renewals Multiple moratoriums were active in 2025 and into 2026, including those tied to the January 2025 Palisades, Eaton, and related Los Angeles County fires,16Hanson Bridgett LLP. LA Wildfires Insurance Moratorium and the December 2025 Gifford Fire in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.17California Department of Insurance. Bulletin 2026-01 One-Year Moratorium If you think your non-renewal violates a moratorium, you can file a Request for Assistance with the California Department of Insurance.
If no private carrier will write a policy, the California FAIR Plan is the insurer of last resort. It provides basic fire coverage with a maximum residential limit of $3 million and doesn’t cover theft, liability, flood, or earthquake damage.18California Department of Insurance. California FAIR Plan Most FAIR Plan policyholders pair it with a separate “Difference in Conditions” policy to close the coverage gaps, and the combined cost usually runs higher than a standard homeowners policy.19United Policyholders. The Lowdown From UP on the California FAIR Plan Consumer advocates treat the FAIR Plan as a temporary bridge and recommend continuing to shop the standard market.