Due to the increasing frequency and severity of wildland fires in California, many homeowners in higher-risk areas started facing sudden cancellation or non-renewal of their home insurance. When coverage could be found, it often came at significantly higher rates.
The underlying cause is systemic: the combination of climate change and continued development in fire-prone areas created insurance risk that broke legacy business models. Obsolete state regulations hadn’t kept pace. Many carriers exited California or drastically reduced their exposure, causing real hardship for homeowners. After the initial crisis broke, the state of California significantly changed their rules. It basically allowed the insurance companies to charge much higher rates provided that they actually wrote policies in the state, changed their computer models to accurately reflect local conditions, and rewarded good behavior. This has brought many of the carriers back into the market.
At this point you can get coverage across a variety of sources. It is much more expensive than years ago. What is important is that there are increasing discounts available on insurance if you prepare your house and property well. If you follow the suggestions on Preparing for Wildfire you can secure two kinds of discounts. First, discounts for specific acts of home hardening and defensible space. Second, if you live in a FireWise Community you can get a further discount.
Learning More!
Your local Fire Safe Councils are the best resource for specific home and property preparation. For more about the insurance situation, turn to United Policyholders — a non-profit that helps residents navigate the insurance situation and provides recommendations for finding coverage.
Start with their California page for the best current tactical guidance on what to do if you’ve been dropped or non-renewed.
A presentation on this topic is also available: United Policyholders Overview