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Insurance UPDATE & discounts & cancellations

MANY OF OUR RESIDENTS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED AND WE WANT TO KEEP UP TO DATE ON TRENDS IN COVERAGE FOR OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU CANCEL YOUR POLICY DUE TO RATE HIKES. OTHER COMPANIES MAY NOT BE WRITING NEW POLICIES IN CALIFORNIA.

4-4-2024 Valuable links from the State Insurance commissioner and other sources
-- INSURANCE COMPARISON TOOL FORM!
-- PREMIUM QUOTE
RESIDENTIAL INSURANCE CONTACT LIST
Sampling of recent press coverage: April 2024
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RECENT PRESS COVERAGE OF CALIFORNIA HOME INSURANCE ISSUES, CANCELLATIONS, ETC.
JANUARY 2024
HAS YOUR INSURANCE BEEN CANCELLED?
HAVE YOU RECENTLY OBTAINED NEW HOME AND FIRE INSURANCE?
Also: Do you know a good insurance agent you can recommend to others?
PLEASE LET US KNOW! Contact Tom Ayres to report if you have been cancelled or found a new policy. If possible, also copy the email to

Some of the information below was posted in the fall of 2023 and may be out of date. USAA: At this point, it appears that USAA group companies are likely to award discount for Firewise Communities, but that has not been confirmed by a local policy holder yet. Also they may not be writing new policies!
State Farms provided a discount, but they will not be offering any new fire policies in CA, and we can speculate that they will drop existing policies, as some other companies have done – Travelers and Allstate.
- Mercury presumably will provide discount, that includes Cal Auto Insurance; but we have not had that confirmed by a local policy holder yet. Same for California FAIR plan.
- Amica has not cancelled policies yet for the several of us who insure through them, but they do not offer a discount for Firewise Community membership.
- Kemper has cancelled a policy locally, claiming a high AON wildfire score.
—Based on Tom’s prior research, and the website of the CA Insurance Commissioner, the following insurance companies may grant a discount for living in a Firewise Community, depending on the property characteristics and how much fire hardening has been completed.
1) Allstate; 2) American Modern Home; 3) ASI Select (INCLUDES MERCURY, PROGRESIVE AND ALIVE INSURERS); 4) California Automobile Insurance; 5) Crestbrook; 6) CSAA; Falls Lake; 7) Occidental Fire and Casualty of North Carolina; 8) State Farm; 9) California FAIR PLAN; 10) USAA GROUP (NOTE) USAA Includes 4 companies that may give discounts: Garrison, United Services, USAA Casualty and USA Indemnity);
In addition, as of May 2023, State Farm Insurance will no longer write policies in California but have not yet said if they will cancel current policies or give a discount for Firewise Communities.

Insurers currently Offering Discounts (From California State Insurance Commission)

INSURANCE DISCOUNTS IN CALIFORNIA FOR FIREWISE COMMUNITY MEMBERS: Through a new set of rules dubbed , the California Department of Insurance (CDI) has required insurance companies doing business in the state to provide discounts for residential property insurance when policyholders reduce their wildfire risks:
Residential Property Insurance Companies Currently Offering Discounts for Fire Hardened Homes and/or Communities: The number of residential property insurance companies offering insurance discounts for fire-hardened homes and communities has increased since Commissioner Lara took office in 2019. Several companies offer both community-wide discounts (for example, a home in a Firewise or a Shelter-In-Place community) and home-specific discounts (for example, maintaining defensible space or home-safety measures against wind-blown embers). In some cases, these discounts can be combined. Because discounts and eligibility differ by company, we urge you to contact the insurance company directly to find out if your property qualifies.
State Insurance Commission document links:
1) Companies offering insurance discounts for members of a approved Firewise Community (including our own Wildcat Firewise Community:



PREVIOUS INFORMATION AND LINKS
CAN YOU HELP US RESEARCH CANCELLATIONS IN OUR WILDCAT FIREWISE COMMUNITY AND ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS?? Contact Alan Siegel, or Tom Ayres OR Pam Martin: to volunteer for this information/gathering and advocacy project.
HOW MANY OF OUR RESIDENTS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED AND BY WHAT COMPANIES AND WHERE DID THEY ULIMATELY FIND COVERAGE?
CURRENT ARTICLES: JUNE 2023 ON INSURANCE CANCELLATIONS FROM NPR, NEW YORK TIMES, SAN J0SE MERCURY AND KQED PODCASTS:1) NPR article on state farm leaving CA market May 28, 2023: UPDATE: STATE FARM—LEADING HOME INSURANCE PROVIDER IN CALIFORNIA NO LONGER ACCEPTING HOMEOWNER INSURANCE APPLICATIONS IN CALIFORNIA2)
3) NEW YORK TIMES--2 ARTICLES May and June 2023
State Farm and Allstate Pull out of California Homeowners Insurance Market KQED's Forum Citing an increased risk of natural disasters, two of California’s largest property insurers, State Farm and Allstate, are no longer selling new homeowners insurance in the state. Insurers have been shrinking their coverage areas in California for the last few years, especially in wildfire-prone regions, but the latest moves signal just how much insurers are accounting for the increasing costs of climate change. We’ll talk about the impact on homeowners, homebuilders and would-be home buyers and how the state is responding. Guests: Ivan Penn , Los Angeles-based reporter covering alternative energy, The New York Times. Michael Wara, policy director for the Sustainability Accelerator at the Doerr School of Sustainability and director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program and senior research scholar at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University Kimiko Barrett, research and policy analyst, Headwater Economics Ricardo Lara, Insurance Commissioner of California

Insurers Currently Offering Discounts (From California State Insurance Commission) INSURANCE DISCOUNTS IN CALIFORNIA FOR FIREWISE COMMUNITY MEMBERS: Through a new set of rules dubbed , the California Department of Insurance (CDI) has required insurance companies doing business in the state to provide discounts for residential property insurance when policyholders reduce their wildfire risks:

Residential Property Insurance Companies Currently Offering Discounts for Fire Hardened Homes and/or Communities: The number of residential property insurance companies offering insurance discounts for fire-hardened homes and communities has increased since Commissioner Lara took office in 2019. Several companies offer both community-wide discounts (for example, a home in a Firewise or a Shelter-In-Place community) and home-specific discounts (for example, maintaining defensible space or home-safety measures against wind-blown embers). In some cases, these discounts can be combined. Because discounts and eligibility differ by company, we urge you to contact the insurance company directly to find out if your property qualifies.
State Insurance Commission document links:
1) Companies offering insurance discounts for members of a approved Firewise Community (including our own Wildcat Firewise Community:
2) Example of specific company offering discounts:



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