Our Neighborhood was recently assigned a much higher fire hazard zone rating. We do not believe the higher zone is appropriate. What type of professional should we hire to dispute the fire hazard zone rating assigned to our neighborhood by the state.
JOSEPH YOUNG asked 1 month ago 1 Answers
Hi Joseph,
Our organization is working hard to help California homeowners stay insured despite the current affordability and availability crisis, and we understand you being worried about the CalFire maps – but the fact is, insurance companies don’t use those maps, they use use risk models developed by private companies that take into account a range of factors including your home’s distance from a fire station, the degree of slope of the property on which the home is situated and the distance from a fuel load such as woodland or brush among other considerations (including hillside elevation/slopes). When CalFire updated their maps last year, many people were concerned, as you are, that it would cause them to have to pay higher premiums, but the reasons premiums are rising and so many people are having to go on the FAIR Plan is more related to the mega-fires associated with climate change, the technology insurers are using, and insurers’ belief that they’ve not been allowed to charge adequate rates in CA to cover their current risks.
CalFire periodically updates their High Fire Severity maps to make decisions on resource allocation. Here’s a link that explains the maps and answers frequently asked questions: https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/osfm-website/what-we-do/community-wildfire-preparedness-and-mitigation/fire-hazard-severity-zones/2024-fhsz-faqs_english.pdf?rev=538374a27bb44bbab4c2786ff2eafb39&hash=AD4DB7857E3EF6F0BEC0B56429A1C262. As far as we know, there is no appeal process, and no professional you can hire to challenge where your home is located on their maps.
For shopping help and tips on reducing risk to qualify for better insurance options, check out: https://uphelp.org/home-insurance-shopping-help-wrap/
Thanks, Amy Bach
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