Indiana FAIR Plan: what it covers, what it costs, who qualifies

Does Indiana have a FAIR Plan?

Yes. Indiana has a FAIR Plan: the Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association (IBPIUA), in operation since October 28, 1968 and uniquely among US states established not by statute but as a voluntary insurer association (Indiana FAIR Plan, verified May 2026). It still writes coverage for Indiana homes the standard market won't.

The IBPIUA operates under a self-adopted Plan of Operation rather than a section of the Indiana Insurance Code. Member property insurers join voluntarily and share the underwriting risk, with claims and assessments handled through the association rather than through a state agency (Indiana FAIR Plan, verified May 2026). The Insurance Information Institute lists Indiana among the US states running an active FAIR Plan in its fiscal-year 2024 tally.

For a homeowner who just received a non-renewal notice, that legal structure matters less than the practical path. The plan still writes coverage once you've been turned down by the standard market, you still apply through a licensed Indiana agent, and the policy itself looks like the dwelling-fire form other state FAIR Plans sell. What it covers, what it costs, and who qualifies are detailed below.

What does it cover?

The Indiana FAIR Plan writes named-peril policies in several forms. The base form, DP-1 Basic, covers fire, lightning, and extended coverage: windstorm and hail, explosion, riot, aircraft, vehicles, and smoke. DP-2 Broad adds further named perils. HO-8 Modified is a limited named-peril homeowners form. HO-2 Broad is the broadest available and includes personal liability of $100,000 and medical payments of $1,000. Commercial cover is on the CP 00 99 form (Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association, verified May 2026).

Flood is not covered. Two Indiana-specific endorsements are available: earthquake and mine subsidence, the latter relevant in the southwestern coal-mining counties. Losses settle on an actual cash value basis, meaning depreciation comes out of the claim payment, and deductibles are offered at $500, $1,000, and $2,500 (Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association).

A difference-in-conditions policy, sometimes called a 'wrap', is the typical companion alongside a FAIR Plan. It fills the gaps a named-peril form leaves: theft and water damage are the usual additions, and personal liability when the FAIR Plan form chosen doesn't carry it. The Indiana plan doesn't market a packaged DIC; an independent agent layers one through a surplus-lines or specialty admitted carrier. If the HO-2 Broad form was written, the liability and medical-payments piece is already in place and the wrap is smaller.

How much will it cover?

The Indiana FAIR Plan caps a residential policy at $250,000 combined for building and contents (Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association, verified May 2026). That combined structure matters: dwelling and personal-property coverage share one ceiling, not two. A home insured for $200,000 leaves only $50,000 of contents coverage inside the cap, not the percentage-of-dwelling contents allowance a standard HO-3 policy provides.

Commercial risks have a separate $1,000,000 combined cap (Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association, verified May 2026), again building and contents together.

If the rebuild cost of the home exceeds $250,000, the FAIR Plan covers up to its cap and the rest is uninsured unless a difference-in-conditions policy fills the gap, covered below. The settlement basis matters as much as the cap: the policy form determines whether losses pay on a replacement-cost or actual-cash-value basis, which is the difference between full rebuild dollars and depreciated dollars (see replacement cost vs. actual cash value).

Who is eligible?

Yes, if three unaffiliated insurers have declined to write the home. The Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association (IBPIUA), the formal name for the state's FAIR Plan, requires three declinations from non-related insurance companies before it will issue a policy (verified May 2026). The non-renewal letter you're holding counts as one; you need two more, in writing, from carriers that aren't subsidiaries of each other.

At renewal, the same test runs again. The plan asks for three fresh declinations from different carriers within the prior 60 days, every year the policy stays in force (Indiana FAIR Plan). The qualifying step is annual, not one-time.

The property itself has to be a dwelling or a commercial structure located in Indiana, and it has to meet IBPIUA underwriting standards (roof condition, occupancy, basic insurability). Investor-owned rentals qualify on the same terms as owner-occupied homes; nothing in the rule turns on whether the owner lives there.

One sharp exclusion to know about: vacant buildings don't qualify. The single exception is a property under active renovation scheduled to be back in service within 90 days (Indiana FAIR Plan); outside that window, the plan won't write it. If a home is sitting empty between tenants or while a decision is pending, fix the status before applying, or the application stops at the door.

How do you apply?

Two routes get a homeowner a quote. The faster one for most people is a licensed Indiana independent insurance agent, who can submit the application to the Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association (IBPIUA) on the homeowner's behalf. If you'd rather apply yourself, the plan also runs an online application portal at infairplan.onaipso.com (Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association, verified May 2026). The plan's main number for both consumers and agents is 317-692-0559, and the office sits at 3502 Woodview Trace, Suite 100, Indianapolis, IN 46268; in-person visits require advance scheduling.

What the IBPIUA does not publish: a guaranteed turnaround, a fixed checklist of required documents, or a public broker-finder tool. The practical path after a non-renewal letter is the same independent agent who has been running quotes with admitted carriers; once those carriers decline, that agent files the IBPIUA application. Indiana's plan is intentionally a thin layer that activates only after the voluntary market has said no.

Once the plan issues a binder, the homeowner has the document a lender, escrow agent, or any other party needs as proof of coverage. See what an insurance binder is for the difference between a binder and a finalized policy.

How much does it cost?

The Indiana FAIR Plan costs more than a standard homeowners policy for narrower coverage, and it is built as a last resort rather than a price-competition fallback (Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association, verified May 2026). It doesn't publish an average annual premium for Indiana, and an Indiana-specific rate comparison isn't on the public record.

That premium gap is structural, not incidental. FAIR Plans take properties the voluntary market has declined, so they carry adversely selected risk and price accordingly (Insurance Information Institute).

The plan's small size matters here. Indiana's FAIR Plan holds roughly 660 to 810 residential policies in force (Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association), one of the smallest in the country. The voluntary market is still writing most Indiana homes, which means a non-renewal here usually doesn't end at the FAIR Plan. If you've just been non-renewed, an independent agent running three admitted carriers is usually the fastest path to a lower price than the plan would charge; treat the FAIR Plan as the floor, not the starting point. A non-renewal that followed a rate spike at your prior carrier has its own diagnostic, covered separately.

What tends to push the FAIR Plan price up on any given home: older roofs and wiring, prior claims, distance from a fire hydrant or responding fire department, and a high replacement cost. Because the policy is named-peril and excludes liability, theft, and water damage, the all-in cost of coverage often includes a difference-in-conditions wrap on top of the FAIR Plan premium; that combined number is the figure to compare against a standard HO-3.

What is changing right now?

The Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association (IBPIUA, the Indiana FAIR Plan) is small and contracting. Residential policies in force fell from roughly 1,183 in 2018 to 660 in 2022, a 41.5% drop, with an uptick to 692 in 2023 and approximately 810 habitational policies for fiscal year 2024 (Insurance Information Institute, verified May 2026).

Total written exposure isn't on the public record; the IBPIUA's annual report is the primary source for that figure. The III FY2024 exposure number does not square with the policy count and is best confirmed against the plan's own filings.

Two 2025 bills introduced in the Indiana General Assembly are worth tracking. SB 338 would have required the Department of Insurance to submit annual reports on the FAIR Plan; SB 24 proposed a 10% annual rate-increase cap. Neither appears on Governor Braun's 2025 signed-legislation list, and both should be considered unenacted absent a later filing.

At the regulator, Holly Williams Lambert was confirmed as Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Insurance on October 16, 2024, appointed by then-Governor Holcomb to succeed Amy Beard and retained under Governor Braun, who took office in January 2025.

Indiana has no depopulation or takeout program. The state is landlocked and has no separate coastal wind pool. There is no statutory FAIR Plan rate cap on the books. The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana's June 2025 report, "The Insurance Crisis Hits Home," examined the state's broader insurance market. Dated revisions post to /changelog/ as new filings come in.

Do you also need a wrap (DIC) policy?

Most Indiana FAIR Plan buyers do add separate coverage alongside the plan, but Indiana doesn't have a packaged difference-in-conditions wrap (a second policy that fills what the FAIR Plan leaves out) the way California or Florida do. The Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association writes its HO-2 Broad form with personal liability and medical-payments coverage already built in (verified May 2026), so the gap a wrap normally fills in other states is partly closed at the plan itself.

What that means for a closing: a lender asking for proof of liability alongside dwelling coverage usually gets it on a single Indiana plan binder, with no second policy required. There is no formal named DIC product marketed in Indiana, and brokers don't have a shelf to pull one from the way a California or Florida agent might.

What an Indiana broker typically adds separately: a standalone flood policy through the NFIP or a private flood market if the property sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area, and a personal umbrella if the plan's built-in liability limit is too thin for the household's exposure. Water-damage and theft coverage are not back-fillable through a wrap here; if the deal turns on either, the cleaner path is an admitted HO-3 quote or an excess-and-surplus carrier rather than the plan. See: what a difference-in-conditions policy is.

Alternatives to the FAIR Plan in Indiana

Try the standard market before applying to the Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association. The fastest path is an independent agent running at least three admitted carriers (companies licensed by the state, with the state guaranty fund as a backstop if a carrier fails). A standard homeowners policy carries the coverages the FAIR Plan strips out: liability, theft, water damage, and the full HO-3 peril list.

If admitted carriers decline, the next step is the excess and surplus lines market: non-admitted insurers that write the risks standard carriers won't, at higher prices and without the state guaranty backstop (see: admitted vs surplus-lines carriers). E&S binders on harder-to-place homes can land near FAIR Plan pricing but with broader coverage, fewer exclusions, and often liability included. A surplus-lines broker can shop both markets in one pass.

A small set of specialty admitted insurers write older homes, rural risks, and homes with recent claims that the major carriers reject. Ask the agent specifically about regional and specialty mutuals writing in Indiana. The FAIR Plan stays the backstop if every other path closes; the cost trade-offs are below.

What to do this week if you just got a non-renewal notice

1. Read the non-renewal letter and write down the dates. The notice names the last day current coverage is in force and any reason given (claims, condition, location). Those dates set the clock for everything below.
2. Get quotes from at least three admitted Indiana carriers before going to the FAIR Plan. An independent agent can run several at once; a few admitted writers still take risks the major national brands have walked away from. If they all decline, that paper trail is the diligent-search record the plan expects.
3. Ask a licensed Indiana agent to bind coverage through the Indiana Basic Property Insurance Underwriting Association. The plan is broker-access only, so you cannot buy direct from the association. Bring the prior policy declarations page, a recent inspection or exterior photos, and the mortgage servicer's loss-payee details.
4. Price a difference-in-conditions (DIC) wrap alongside the FAIR Plan quote. The base FAIR Plan policy excludes liability, theft, and most water damage; a wrap from a specialty admitted carrier or an excess and surplus broker fills those gaps. Quoting them together shows the combined cost before binding.
5. Send the new declarations page to the mortgage servicer the day coverage binds. Lenders force-place coverage when proof lapses, and force-placed policies are several times more expensive and only protect the lender. A fresh binder stops that clock.

For the full document checklist and the dispute path against the carrier's stated reason, see /got-a-non-renewal-notice/.