CC 08-16-2022 Item No. 1.Safer from Wildfire_PresentationCALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
INSURANCE
Mary Beth Bykowsky
Northern CA Outreach Analyst
Wildfire Actions
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CC 08-16-2022 Item No. 1
ROLE OF INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
RICARDO LARA
Protect consumers
Maintain insurer solvency
Set standards for agents and broker licensing
Perform market conduct reviews of insurance
companies
Resolve consumer complaints
Investigate and prosecute insurance fraud
Cannot require or compel insurance companies to
sell insurance
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Met with more than
25,000 people
to hear wildfire and
insurance concerns
through
60 virtual
events in
40 counties
Since 2019
What CDI Has Done
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Progress Report
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• Removed barriers to allow wildfire survivors to
receive critical insurance benefits
• Coverage for evacuation expenses
• Extensions to additional living expenses
• Created disclosures and coverage to meet
upgraded building codes
• One year moratorium from non-renewals (More than
4 million policyholders protected)
• Increased non-renewal notice from 45 to 75 days
Improving the FAIR Plan
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Businessowners Commercial Property Dwelling Coverage
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1990s 2022
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Launched in January 2022, Safer from Wildfires is
an interagency partnership between Insurance
Commissioner Ricardo Lara and the state’s
emergency response and readiness agencies to
protect lives, homes, and businesses by reducing
wildfire risk.
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Regulations to lower costs and
increase transparency
• Require insurance companies to factor consumers’ and
businesses’ wildfire safety actions into their pricing
• Provide consumers with transparency about their “wildfire
risk score”that insurance companies assign to properties
• Give consumers the right to appeal their risk determination
• Public hearing was April 13 — regulations expected to be in effect
by summer 2022
•The number of homeowners non-renewed
by insurance companies fell by 10 percent
statewide in 2020 compared to the previous
year — a decrease of 22,870 policies.
•Premium discounts now available to 2 out of
every 5 consumers, with up to 20 percent
discounts for wildfire‐hardened homes – 6x
increase since 2019
It Is Working!
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QUESTIONS?
1-800-927-4357
insurance.ca.gov
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