In a monumental move, California’s Insurance Commissioner, Ricardo Lara, has expanded a moratorium on denials and non-renewals of fire insurance -- impacting more than two million policy holders in the Bay Area.
Although property insurance protects residential owners whose homes are totally destroyed by fire, the Wildfire Safety and Recovery Act, passed in 2018, restricted policy holders living in and around fire-emergency areas.
“I have heard your nightmarish fears of losing everything that is precious to you despite your heroic efforts to protect your homes, families, and communities from wildfires, and the unfathomable frustration endured over losing your insurance anyway — despite all the actions you took to reduce the risk and stay insurable,” Lara said during a “virtual investigatory hearing” held Oct. 19.
The moratorium includes zip codes in and around Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa and three other counties, 16 zip codes in and around CZU Complex Fire in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, along with 50 in and around this year’s August Complex Fire in Northern California and 19 from the recent Glass Fire in Wine Country. Dozens of additional zip codes are subject to the extension of last year’s moratorium.
This year, more than 4 million acres burned statewide, more than twice the previous record from 2018.