Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner, on Sept. 19 placed a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance company cancellations and non-renewals for three-quarters of a million policyholders impacted by fires in Southern California.
The insurance commissioner was granted the authority to issue moratoriums by Senate Bill 824, introduced by then state Sen. Lara and signed into law in 2018, which prohibits insurers from canceling or refusing renewals for residential properties located in wildfire areas if a state of emergency is declared. Policyholders who lose their home to fire are protected for 24 months.
Homeowners in or nearby the perimeter affected by the Airport, Bridge, and Line fires in Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties are now temporarily protected, after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued emergency declarations for the areas in recent weeks….