California Wildfires Shut Down Vacant Home Insurance Marketplace

Several Insurance Underwriters are no longer taking certain risks in California due to the ongoing wildfire situation, and this includes some insurance companies that offer commercial insurance and vacant home insurance.

Clients may not be aware that underwriters of vacant home insurance can issue directives to managing general agents to no longer take risks in certain States effectively shutting off the state until the risk situation passes.

The most common example where an entire State is essentially "turned off" for vacant homeowners insurance in Florida, when there is a depression brewing or named storm in the Atlantic or the Gulf that has better than a 50/50 chance of hitting the State. Because the destruction can be so massive they will essentially "turn of the State." This is what has happened recently with Southern California because of the wildfires.

Of course, all current and existing policyholders have good insurance and claim payment is not in jeopardy. It's those that need new insurance policies or even those coming up for renewal that potentially could have a problem. If you are a client in need of vacant homeowners insurance in the Southern California area today, you may find you will have to go without insurance until the crisis passes.