On Thursday, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies non-renewing policyholders. The Commissioner’s action is the result of Senate Bill 824—authored in 2018 by Commissioner Lara while serving as a State Senator—in order to give temporary relief from non-renewals to residents living near a declared wildfire disaster. This is the first time the Department of Insurance has invoked the new law, which took effect in January.
In June, the RCRC Board of Directors approved a resolution creating a Homeowners Insurance Ad Hoc Committee (Committee). RCRC member counties have been disproportionally impacted by recent homeowners’ insurance cancellations and non-renewals following years of devastating wildfires in California. The Committee is tasked with considering potential solutions for the increase in homeowners’ insurance cancellations and non-renewals in high fire risk areas. In particular, how county governments can develop programs and measures to encourage greater community-wide access and affordability to homeowners insurance.
The potential solutions include, but are not limited to, introducing additional insurers into rural areas, working with the insurance industry on an insurance risk-reduction model, examining insurance industry risk modeling, re-creating/revising California’s Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan (FAIR Plan), and working directly with policy advocates, the California Legislature, and the Department of Insurance to explore other options.
Members of the Committee include the following County Supervisors:
1. Sherri Brennan (Tuolumne; Chair)
2. Bob Williams (Tehama)
3. Lee Adams (Sierra)
4. Kevin Cann (Mariposa)
5. Diane Dillon (Napa)
6. Randy Fletcher (Yuba)
7. Dan Miller (Nevada)
8. Brian Oneto (Amador)
9. Lori Parlin (El Dorado)
The Committee is tasked with issuing a report of findings no later than the August 2020 Board of Directors meeting.
Full details on Commissioner Lara’s actions can be accessed here.