Recommendations for home insurance...

One of my coworkers had their home burn in Santa Rosa along with all of his neighbors homes. He was very impressed with Safeco as he had very few issues with his claim. His neighbors with other carriers were not as happy.

The companies stopping issuing New policies is really about their ability to raise prices that is controlled by the commission, it is a pressure tactic that has happened before. Almost certainly CA will fold in a few weeks and allow exceptions to the caps, and those companies will start issuing new policies again.
The market is just too big to ignore, and the actuaries need to be appeased enough to maintain profits and risk profile..