The State touts a new program to give more power to homeowners seeking fire insurance as rates soar to record highs, yet those working for the insurance companies say differently.
During the Lassen Supervisors’ July 18th meeting, Outreach manager for the California Department of Insurance, Lisa Strange, and analyst Durriya Syed said the department is working hard to bring relief to homeowners through a new “Safer From Wildfire Regulation.”
Still in its initial stage with no final approval, the program is said to bring homeowners the opportunity to get discounts through a three-pronged approach to reducing the fire risk around homes. The regulation would also, as the department says, as never before, allow homeowners to access their risk score with the potential to lower their score through these same efforts. Strange also added that through this initiative the goal would be to entice more insurance companies to return and begin writing policies in areas they were not previously writing for.
At the Supervisor’s meeting, Michelle Hunter with Farmer’s Insurance, one of the only insurance carriers currently writing policies in the state, said otherwise. She shared that insurance companies are utilizing the ISO rating maps to determine the score given to homeowners, not the CAL FIRE HFSZ map or any others. With that she said the ISO is impossible to reach to try and bring change to relieve the burden of fire insurance on locals homeowners.
Others spoke in Public comment rejecting the state’s approach, highlighting the lack of sustainability insurance companies have, blaming the Department of Insurance for placing to many regulations on the market and forcing companies out of California.
The supervisors urged the Department of Insurance to visit Lassen County and see what factors need to be considered in providing fair fire insurance, as more and more in the county are forced to deplete thier savings to pay off homes and risk no fire coverage or are outright forced to flee the county.
