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Insurance and rebuilding: nonprofit urges incentives and cautious state mandates
Summary
United Policyholders’ executive director described recovery programs, insurer engagement on risk reduction, and urged legislative funding for mitigation grants while advising caution about mandating underwriting changes that could shrink market access.
Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, described the group's work in Santa Rosa after the Tubbs and subsequent fires: running "road map to recovery" workshops, vetting rebuild partners, supporting debris-removal communications and advising homeowners on maximizing insurance proceeds. "We brought our road map recovery program here right out of the gate and by integrating with the efforts that were going on here locally," Bach said.
Bach said insurers are beginning to reward homeowners and communities that take risk-reduction steps: she cited CSAA, USAA and Mercury as participating insurers that have engaged with local working groups and discussed discounts tied to community mitigation or wildfire-prepared-home certifications. At the same time she warned against hasty mandates that would require insurers to underwrite specific conditions, and suggested the Legislature explore funding mechanisms such as an insurer‑funded mitigation grant model (she referenced a Colorado approach where a portion of premium taxes support mitigation grants).
The committee heard that insurance market pressures — nonrenewals, premium spikes, and the use of aerial data in underwriting — are changing homeowner incentives for home hardening. Bach and other witnesses recommended giving homeowners access to insurer data, time to remediate flagged issues, and more grant-funded mitigation so owners can meet both code and underwriting expectations.
