Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Insurance Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
California Department of Insurance outlines wildfire-focused 'Sustainable Insurance Strategy' in Temple City presentation
Summary
Destiny Flores of the California Department of Insurance told the Temple City City Council the state's Sustainable Insurance Strategy centers on a three-step 'Safer from Wildfires' framework to encourage home hardening, defensible space and community mitigation while increasing transparency and insurance availability.
Destiny Flores, an outreach analyst with the California Department of Insurance, told the Temple City City Council that the department’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy aims to address growing homeowner insurance scarcity and rising premiums driven by wildfire risk.
Flores said California’s property-insurance market is concentrated — 12 groups write about 85% of the market — and that several major groups have paused or restricted new business despite approved or pending rate increases. She described the Safer from Wildfires framework as a three-step approach: home hardening (fire-rated roofs, tempered glass, enclosed attics), protecting immediate surroundings (removing vegetation and combustible materials within 5 feet, removing combustible outbuildings), and community-level mitigation coordinated with local fire and planning agencies.
The department will require insurers to provide wildfire risk scores to applicants and policyholders, Flores said, and said the Fair Plan will offer discounts for Firewise communities and for structural hardening beginning Aug. 23. Flores also said CDI is increasing certain commercial coverage limits and that companies using new risk-assignment tools must commit to maintaining writing in wildfire‑distressed areas to meet an 85% coverage target in those areas.
Council members asked how residents can sign up for notices, how the risk score is calculated, and why the regulation sets an 85% writing goal rather than 100%. Flores directed council members to the CDI website’s registration option and said staff can provide additional technical information; she said CDI cannot force all insurers to write but aims to reduce the FAIR Plan’s share by improving the market and incentivizing mitigation.
The presentation included an explanation of how the FAIR Plan functions as an insurer of last resort and a warning that a growing FAIR Plan could increase insolvency risk in a catastrophic event if left unchecked. Flores urged residents and local governments to pursue home hardening and community mitigation programs and offered CDI assistance to consumers who have questions about nonrenewals or risk scores.
The council did not take action on the presentation but thanked Flores for the report and invited follow-up questions and contact through the department’s consumer lines and website.
