Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
San Rafael commissioners hear property insurance market update amid wildfire volatility
Summary
Risk Placement Services executive Melissa Stifle told the San Rafael Fire Commission that commercial property insurance rates softened in 2025 but weather-driven losses keep the market fragile; she urged continued local mitigation and use of modeling to set coverage levels.
Melissa Stifle, area senior vice president for property insurance at Risk Placement Services (RPS), told the San Rafael Fire Commission that commercial property insurance softened in 2025 but remains vulnerable to large weather losses. "So far in 2025, we have seen rate decreases," Stifle said, adding that declines have in some cases exceeded 20 percent and that terms and conditions had improved.
The change follows a period of sharp rate increases from 2020 to 2023, Stifle said, driven by significant catastrophe losses and constrained capital. "You saw pricing get very expensive," she said, and insurers cut capacity, sometimes shrinking limits from $10 million to $2.5 million on individual placements.
City officials said the presentation is directly relevant to San…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
