The 2024 wildfire season has been a tense time for home and business owners who – as NBC Los Angeles’ I-Team has reported – are being dropped by their insurance carriers by the tens of thousands as companies are concerned with large losses in events like the Line, Bridge and Airport Fires.
"Honestly the hardest part is we are blind. I’ve been calling around all afternoon, trying to find out if my house is still there,” Danny Jacob, who recently evacuated from his home, said.
The state’s Department of Insurance said one thing that should not be a worry for homeowners is the possible loss of their insurance.
State law requires a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies canceling or non-renewing residential insurance policies in certain neighborhoods after the governor has issued a state of emergency.
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As soon as Cal Fire establishes a perimeter at a fire site, the Department of Insurance will “put a lock in place,” according to insurance broker Karl Susman
“The insurance carriers will not be able to non-renew properties that are in that area for at least a year,” Susman said.
Once a state of emergency is declared, the one-year protection applies to residential policyholders who suffer less than a total loss or even no loss at all in the affected area.
Homeowners with total loss also have additional protections under the law, according to the Department of Insurance.
Home insurance policies could cover other costs, like overnight stays when displaced from homes – but it all depends on one's insurance policy.
“It depends on if the evacuation order is mandatory or not. There are a lot of factors that are in there,” Susman explained. “It's always a good idea, if you're in the position of having to evacuate, to contact your insurance carrier and find out what coverage you might be eligible to get for that.”
Another important thing for homeowners need to remember, according to the insurance broker, is that carriers are not able to make changes to the policy when there’s an active fire.
“You can't call them and say, ‘You know what? I think I should have more coverage today.’ That's not going to happen," Susman said. “The best thing that you can do is (to) get a copy of your policy. You can usually call your agent or broker or you can call the insurance carrier directly.”
The insurance broker also urged people to ask their broker straight-forward questions such as what the policy may cover under a mandatory evacuation as every policy has different language when it comes to evacuation rules.
New regulations, as the I-Team reported earlier in the summer, would mandate insurance companies to offer policies in certain high risk and underserved communities.
The rules are expected to go into effect later this year and would apply to areas of distress, perhaps where wildfires are now, according to Susman, who added the premium, which will reflect that risk potential, could increase in the future but with the possibility of having more options.
