You rely on your insurance company to be there for you when you need them. After all, you keep up with your premiums and have always paid on time. Unfortunately, insurance companies are notorious for protecting their own bottom lines over their clients. This can lead to issues in receiving the coverage that you need, such as an insurance company refusing to renew your home policy during wildfire season. Take the following steps if you find yourself in this situation in California. If you need assistance, speak with a California wildfire lawyer.
Check for a Valid Cancelation
First, recognize that canceling your home insurance policy and refusing to renew it are two different things. Your insurance company may have the authorization to cancel your policy if you fail to pay your premium or if you misrepresented facts on your insurance application that make you ineligible for coverage. The insurance company should send you a letter explaining why your policy has been canceled. In this case, you may be able to rectify the situation and have your insurance reinstated or shop elsewhere for a new policy.
If the insurance company has refused to renew your homeowners insurance policy, this means that it has decided not to renew your policy once your current term has ended. This might happen if you are viewed as a high-risk client to the insurance company, such as if you live in an area that is prone to wildfires or the insurer believes that you have conditions on your property that increase the risk of fire damage, such as thick underbrush or vegetation surrounding your home.
Request the Reinstatement of Your Policy
Failing to renew your home policy due to wildfire risks may not be permitted, depending on where you live. After more than 235,000 California homeowners lost their insurance coverage in 2019 due to insurance company non-renewals, the Department of Insurance announced that nearly 2.4 million residents are protected by a new moratorium against the non-renewal of policies during fire season. This means that insurance companies legally must renew clients’ policies and cannot refuse to renew them based on wildfire risks.
Currently, the moratorium covers about one-fifth of the state’s more than 2,600 ZIP codes. To find out if you live in a covered ZIP code, visit the department’s website. This notice was announced after the Governor declared a state of emergency related to wildfires. This protection will cover all residential insurance policyholders within the listed areas who suffer less than a total loss. Those with total losses have extra protections by law.
The California Department of Insurance stated that if a homeowner falls within one of the covered ZIP codes and receives a notice from an insurance company of the non-renewal of a residential property insurance policy, they should contact their insurance companies to request the reinstatement of their policies and cite the fact that the moratorium protects them from non-renewals.
Contact the Department of Insurance
If your insurance company still refuses to renew your homeowners insurance policy due to alleged wildfire risks, contact the California Department of Insurance to request assistance. You can fill out their Request for Assistance Form and submit it by mail to request help. The department will investigate your unique situation to determine if the insurance company has breached the moratorium. If so, the department can help you request a policy renewal.
Call an Attorney for Help
If your homeowners insurance company still fails to renew your policy during fire season or to accept a valid wildfire damage claim, you may have a case of insurance company bad faith. In this scenario, contact an attorney who can assist you with insurance claim negotiations. An insurer will not take advantage of an attorney as it might a client. Your attorney can help you fight for adequate coverage and lawful policy renewal, prove your losses after fire damage, or negotiate for maximum financial compensation on your behalf. Speak to a Dixie Fire lawyer at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP today for more information about how we can help.