Lloyd and his wife later purchased another home on Hidden Valley Lake. The town has taken ambitious steps to reduce flammable vegetation, but insurance costs are still more than $4,500 a year, more than three times the cost of the last home in Kansas. Lloyd is worried that insurance companies will raise premiums even further based on the new rules.
Other states in the West, such as Colorado and Oregon, have also experienced coverage gaps after major wildfires, but the problem is not as severe as in the Golden State. In Colorado, for example, officials only recently established a state fire insurance backstop, similar to California’s FAIR plan, because Colorado customers have only left en masse in recent years. California’s big deal with the insurance industry provides a blueprint for other states. If we want to address the coverage gap, we need to give insurers broader powers to set prices.
Even this may not be enough. Although there have been no wildfires as large as those that occurred in 2017 and 2018 in recent years, the wildfires that broke out in the Los Angeles area this week have caused billions of dollars in fires comparable to events like the Camp Fire. May cause damage.
Joel Rocher, a former regulator and fire insurance expert at consumer advocacy group United Policyholders, said the damage caused by the Los Angeles fires could lead to further price increases and a widening supply gap. Ta.
“Certainly, these are going to be big losses,” he told Grist. “Certain regions will definitely have new challenges depending on whether insurers are able to charge the rates they think the region deserves,” Locher said. Although it may not refuse to renew as many policies as stipulated in the Act, some affected areas may still be able to avoid selling policies, he said.
Mr. Frazier of the insurance industry group expressed similar concerns. He said despite the commissioners’ reforms, another monster fire event on the scale of 2017 and 2018 could drive the insurance industry away from the state again.
“If we have a few more years of unprecedented years, all bets are off,” he told Grist.
(Tag Translate) Climate Desk
