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Insurance commissioner issues order protecting 325,000 Northern California wildfire survivors
This order protects those living within the perimeter or adjoining zip code of a declared wildfire disaster regardless of whether they suffered a loss, including the Dixie, Caldor, River, Tamarack, Antelope, McFarland, Monument, Fly, and Cache fires.
“Climate change-fueled wildfires continue to devastate homeowners and communities. My moratorium orders help provide short-term relief as we address the root causes of these ever-intensifying natural disasters,” said Commissioner Lara. “This California law empowers my office to help give people the breathing room they desperately need as they recover. I will both continue to enforce this law to protect consumers and continue working to create long-term solutions.”
The commissioner’s ability to issue moratoriums is a result of a California law he authored in 2018 while serving as state senator in order to provide temporary relief from non-renewals to residents living within or adjacent to a declared wildfire disaster.
Monday’s moratorium order follows Gov. Gavin Newsom’s six emergency declarations this summer and gives protection from insurance company-initiated non-renewals for one year for residential property insurance policies in zip codes within or adjacent to the fire perimeter.
The declared moratorium includes Gov. Newsom’s July 23, Aug. 5, Aug. 10, Aug. 17, Aug. 30 and Sept. 7 declarations affecting parts of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba counties.
Consumers’ one year of protection from non-renewal starts on the date of the governor’s emergency declaration that included the fire affecting them.
The order protects 325,000 policyholders and is in addition to 25,000 policyholders who were protected in the Commissioner’s moratorium order following the July 23 wildfire emergency in Lassen, Plumas and Siskiyou counties.
In Lake County, the order protects zip codes impacted by the Cache fire: 95422, 95451, 95423, 95987, 95457, 95424 and 95679.
Consumers can go to the California Department of Insurance website to see if their zip code is included in the moratorium. Consumers should contact the Department of Insurance at 800-927-4357 or via chat or email at insurance.ca.gov if they believe their insurance company is in violation of this law, or have additional claims-related questions.