Marie Inman of Atascadero recently learned she was being dropped by her homeowners insurance. She received a notice in the mail informing her that due to fire hazards like the density and proximity of native vegetation in the area, her insurance policy would expire in August.
“It makes us, and I can imagine other people, feel pretty scared because what are we going to do if we can’t get fire insurance?” Inman said.
She says she’s talked with major insurers such as State Farm as well as lesser-known companies, and they all gave her the same answer.
“I’ve called every single name brand company you can think of and they’re not taking clients from California," Inman said.
State Farm is one of the latest insurance companies no longer selling new property insurance policies to homeowners in California.
Inman says her mortgage broker told her the California Fair Plan, established by the state to provide basic fire insurance for high-risk properties, is their only option.
“The state insurance only covers your home and only if it burns down completely," Inman said. "California gets a lot of fires and this season I think it’s another reason why they’re dropping everybody. I’m hearing this from so many people and I just, it’s scary.”
Winter rains have resulted in increased growth of grass and brush, leading to an increased fire risk.
“We could very well, just like every year, potentially have a bad fire season,” said Toni Davis, CAL FIRE Public Information Officer.
CAL FIRE says the fire season is largely dependent on the weather, but Inman says she’s not feeling optimistic about the future.
“Very hopeless. I think that this is why people are moving out of California unfortunately,” Inman said.
KSBY News reached out to Inman’s insurance company, American National, but they did not respond to our request for comment.
