Yes, you can back out over insurance in California: if coverage costs too much to make the deal work financially, that's a valid reason to cancel within your contingency period. The standard is that you need to be able to get insurance, but you're not obligated to accept whatever price gets quoted. If a very high premium (the kind that runs over a thousand dollars a month) or FAIR Plan pricing would push your debt-to-income ratio out of qualifying range or break your budget, you don't have to move forward. Three practical points: - A quote can usually be dialed in within a couple of days, so you'll know your real number early in escrow. - Unaffordable coverage is mostly a problem for homes sitting right up against a high fire-risk area. Almost everywhere else, insurance is obtainable, even if it costs more than it once did. - Get a firm quote early, run it against your budget and your DTI, and keep the contingency in place until you're comfortable with the number.