Earlier this week, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced plans to develop new rules to give policyholders open access to their wildfire risk scores. The rules would be designed to help both homeowners and businesses be better informed on how to improve their wildfire risk rating based on potential mitigation actions, such as fire-hardening and creating defensible space.
Currently, policyholders rarely have access to their wildfire risk scores, even though most insurers utilize them as a primary factor in policy costs and whether they will write or renew coverage in a given area. The proposed rules by the Commissioner’s office would allow policyholders to better evaluate how they can improve their risk scores through wildfire mitigation actions, as well as helping them make better, more informed decisions when they buy or sell property or build a home.
The Commissioner’s Office will hold a public prenotice workshop on March 30, 2021 on the wildfire risk score rulemaking, and will follow with a workshop on April 6 proposing new rules clarifying the review process for insurance company rate filings. More information, including the text of both regulations and how to register for both workshops, can be found on the Department of Insurance website here.