Smoke testing is the focus of this law
California insurance officials announced on September 30 that the governor signed AB 1795, the Smoke Damage Recovery Act. The department says the law establishes science-based standards for investigating, testing and restoring wildfire smoke-damaged homes. It is a signed-law development, not a finding about an individual claim.
The department describes standards insurers must follow when assessing smoke-damage claims, intended to address concerns about contamination and returning families to unsafe homes. The issue is assessment and restoration of damage, rather than an automatic cash amount for every resident exposed to smoke.
Effective dates extend beyond 2027
Implementation is phased. Certain provisions begin January 1, 2027, with remaining provisions taking effect January 1, 2028 and July 1, 2029. The department summary does not map every individual provision to a date, so readers should not assume the whole law governs an October 2026 dispute.
The law also requires studies into contamination-related coverage gaps, drawing on the Lineage Logistics warehouse fire in Boyle Heights. Those studies are not themselves new coverage awards. Keep inspection, testing and insurer correspondence when evaluating a claim, and check the applicable provision and effective date before relying on the new law.