By launching and advancing a “Wildfire Risk Reduction and Asset Protection” (WRAP) initiative in 2017, UP is helping property owners across California keep their assets insured during a home insurance availability and affordability crisis that is affecting many parts of the state. This crisis is hitting people hard in the pocketbook. Insurers have dropped (“non-renewed”) thousands of customers in areas they deem vulnerable to wildfires, and when those customers find a replacement home insurance policy, it provides less protection and costs as much as four times what they had been paying. Not only is this hurting homeowners…it’s reducing property values, hurting real estate sales and causing a ripple effect of economic harm. United Policyholders is working hard with powerful partners to help solve the crisis. We are helping people shop in a very challenging marketplace. We are working to solve the crisis through our WRAP initiative.
Partners/WRAP Working Group Participants (partial list)
Local and State Entities Supervisor Rosemarie Smallcombe, Mariposa County Mike Peterson, California Department of Insurance California Association of Realtors Rural County Representatives of California
Firefighting Professionals Bill Tyler, Novato Fire District Jordan Villagomez, Deputy Fire Marshall, Encinitas Fire Western Fire Chiefs Association CalFire
Research Professionals Dan Gorham, The Institute for Home and Business Safety Dan Turner, Cal Poly WUI FIRE Institute Marc Horney, Cal Poly Yana Valachovic, University of California Cooperative Extension |
FireSafe Councils and FireWise Community Advocates Elaine Himelfarb, Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council COPE (Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies) Jim Webster, Wildfire Partners Mary Schreiber, Fire Safe Council East Orange County Canyons Susan Piper, Oakland Fire Safe Council
Mitigation Products Steve Rahmn, Firebrand Safety Systems, Inc. Brent Berkompas, Brandguard Vents
Wildfire Modeling Professionals Frederick Dupe Fortier, Zesty AI Tammy Schwartz, Black Swan Analytics |