No More Canceling Fire Coverage, Says Insurance Commissioner

Ricardo Lara expanded California’s state-mandated fire insurance program in November, and on Friday the state insurance commissioner announced a block on insurance companies canceling, or not renewing, homeowner policies for residents near a declared wildfire disaster. As many as 800,000 property owners could be affected by Lara’s moratorium. Earlier research by his agency showed that 10 percent more people lost their policies after last year’s massive wildfires than in previous years and that the number of people seeking new policies with the state’s insurer, the FAIR Plan, increased dramatically.

Lara himself authored the underlying legislation, Senate Bill 824, when he was the state senator for Long Beach in 2018 before being elected as insurance commissioner that year. Insurers cannot now cancel anyone who’s suffered a total loss.

The commission is also asking all insurers to voluntarily observe the moratorium until December 5, 2020, since Governor Gavin Newsom’s declared fire emergency in October affected cities and counties statewide. At that time, the Tick Fire was burning across 4,600 acres near Santa Clarita and the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County had exploded across 200,000 acres. “A statewide moratorium,” Lara’s press release states, “would allow time to stakeholders to come together to work on lasting solutions, help reduce wildfire risk and stabilize the insurance market.”