September 9, 2026
California now has the first enforceable rules in the country for how insurance companies handle wildfire smoke damage claims. Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1795, the Smoke Damage Recovery Act, on September 15, 2026. If your home has smoke, soot, or ash damage from a wildfire, or you’re worried your insurance company isn’t taking it seriously, this law was written for you.
Here’s what AB 1795 actually does, why lawmakers wrote it, and what it means for your claim whether you’re filing today or you’ve been fighting your insurance company for months.
What the Smoke Damage Recovery Act Actually Requires
AB 1795 sets deadlines and standards insurance companies have never had to follow before in California. Insurers handling wildfire smoke damage claims must now meet five new requirements.
Inspect Your Property Within 30 Days
Insurance companies get a hard deadline: 30 days from when you report a claim to inspect a smoke-damaged property. No more open-ended waiting while soot and combustion byproducts sit in your walls, ductwork, and belongings.
Pay for Testing and Sampling
This is the part that matters most for a lot of families. Insurers must cover the cost of the testing and sampling needed to determine what restoration your home actually requires, subject to your policy terms and the state’s testing standards. Before this law, many California homeowners pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for environmental testing after their insurer denies or discourages the request. Then they get stuck arguing over results the insurer never paid to obtain.
Keep Paying Your Additional Living Expenses Until You’re Actually Home
ALE covers your temporary housing, extra food costs, and other displacement expenses. Under AB 1795, that coverage has to keep paying out until your home is restored and cleared for occupancy. Insurers can no longer cut off ALE on their own timeline while your house still isn’t livable. Your policy limits still apply, but the insurance company doesn’t get to decide on its own that you’re done.
Let You Choose Your Own Contractor
You get to pick who restores your home. Insurers have to work with the restoration contractor you choose instead of steering you toward a vendor that may prioritize the insurance company’s costs over the actual quality of the work.
Train Adjusters Specifically on Wildfire Smoke Damage
The law requires the California Department of Insurance to set up training and certification programs for the adjusters and public adjusters who handle smoke damage claims, with a deadline of January 1, 2028. That’s an acknowledgment of something we see constantly: a lot of the mishandling homeowners experience comes down to adjusters who simply don’t understand what they’re looking at.
Why California Lawmakers Wrote This Bill
AB 1795 didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s a direct response to what happened after the January 2025 Los Angeles fires. Of the roughly 40,000 insurance claims filed after those fires, more than 13,000 involved smoke damage, and the pattern of how insurers handled them was strikingly consistent.
Homeowners reported that insurers denied or discouraged requests for environmental testing, then refused to reimburse policyholders who paid for testing themselves. One survivor paid $3,000 out of pocket for testing after being turned down by their insurer. Another paid $6,000, and the insurance company ignored the initial results anyway. Multiple adjuster reassignments dragged claims out for months. ALE payments were cut off before homes were actually livable again.
Lawmakers also pointed to the Lineage Logistics warehouse fire as an example of how current law leaves gaps around broader contamination coverage. AB 1795’s companion bill, AB 1642, directs the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish testing and remediation standards for contaminants like lead and asbestos by the end of 2028, and for other substances including heavy metals, cyanide, and lithium by the end of 2029.
The Legal Presumption That Changes How Smoke Damage Claims Get Fought
One of the most important pieces of AB 1795 is a legal presumption. If smoke, ash, soot, or other combustion byproducts are found in a standing home inside the wildfire impact zone, the law presumes they came from the wildfire. That shifts the burden. Homeowners no longer have to prove their smoke damage came from the fire, often against an insurance company arguing it was pre-existing or unrelated. The presumption can be challenged, but now the insurance company has to do the challenging.
If an adjuster has ever questioned whether your smoke damage is “really” from the wildfire, this is the provision meant to shut that argument down.
Where the Law Stands Now
Governor Newsom signed AB 1795 and its companion bill, AB 1642, on September 15, 2026, as part of a four-bill wildfire recovery package that also includes two mortgage forbearance bills. Parts of the law phase in over time. The state’s lead and asbestos testing standards under AB 1642 are due by the end of 2028, and the Department of Insurance’s adjuster training programs are due by January 1, 2028. How the law applies to a claim that is already open depends on the facts of your loss, so ask before you assume it does or doesn’t help you.
What This Means If You’re Filing a Smoke Damage Claim Right Now
If you have an open smoke damage claim today, don’t wait to start pushing back on how your insurance company is handling it. Document everything. If your insurer has denied or discouraged testing, get that denial in writing. If they’ve told you your ALE benefits are ending before your home is actually restored, ask them to point to the specific policy language that allows that.
The new law gives you and your attorney a specific standard to hold your insurance company to. It doesn’t erase disputes already underway, and some provisions may not reach a claim that was filed before they applied, so have an attorney look at where yours stands.
If Your Insurer Has Already Denied or Shorted Your Smoke Damage Claim
Insurance companies have spent years treating smoke damage as an afterthought compared to structural fire loss: denying testing, lowballing cleanup estimates, cutting off displacement benefits early. That’s exactly the pattern this law was written to stop. It’s exactly the kind of fight we take on every day. If your insurer denied your testing costs, disputed the source of your smoke damage, or cut off your ALE before your home was livable, you don’t have to accept that as the final answer.
Call (833) 324-5399 or schedule a free consultation. We work on contingency. No fee unless we win.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Smoke Damage Recovery Act
What is the Smoke Damage Recovery Act?
AB 1795 is a California law that creates the nation’s first enforceable, science-based standards for how insurance companies must investigate and handle wildfire smoke damage claims. That includes inspection deadlines, testing cost coverage, and continued ALE payments until a home is restored.
Was AB 1795 signed into law?
Yes. Governor Newsom signed AB 1795 and its companion bill AB 1642 on September 15, 2026. Some provisions phase in over time, and how the law applies to a claim you already have open depends on your facts, so check with an attorney before you rely on a specific provision.
What if my insurer already denied my testing costs?
Get the denial in writing and hold onto any receipts for testing you paid for yourself. An attorney can help you challenge that denial now, and the new legal presumption around combustion byproducts strengthens claims like this.
Does homeowners insurance cover smoke damage?
Most California homeowners policies cover smoke damage from a covered peril like wildfire, but insurers frequently dispute the extent of that damage or the cost of proper testing and remediation. That’s exactly what AB 1795 addresses.
What is the legal presumption in AB 1795?
If smoke, ash, soot, or other combustion byproducts are found in a standing home inside the wildfire impact zone, the law presumes they came from the wildfire. An insurance company can try to rebut that, but it carries the burden.