Wild fires and insurance

[Ken555]

Yes, that is a small part of it. Idk the specific details of those "Zone 0" rules, which I am sure have changed since the LA fires, nor of that meeting.
But most of that Zone 0 stuff was supposed to have been implemented statewide ... way back "when?" ... who can keep up ... it is CA ... years pass ... studies go on and on.
I'm not sure I ever read ANYTHING that sounds more like overly-massaged mantra from a mass-mailing
"Community groups and residents oppose these rules until studies are complete, perform new studies how well-maintained, irrigated hedges have protected homes during wildfires, listen to on-the-ground experiences, not just laboratory-based models, to create fire-resilient and livable communities, and engage directly with local HOAs and other organizations before finalizing these rules."

I think I got my exercise for the day just reading it. 1 sentence, 50 words, to put lipstick on delay tactics. Good luck to the HOAs when they can't get insurance.

If you’re actually interested, you can find a lot of info on this topic. I simply summarized the issues into one sentence…

 

[Ken555]

Good luck to the HOAs when they can't get insurance.

Who are you kidding? Many of our neighbors can’t get insurance now.

The community has valid concerns regarding the Zone 0 planning.

Personally, I’m all in favor of any reasonable measures which minimizes fire risk

 

[Cyberc]

I've been known to shut things off when we go on a week vacation and my wife looks at me like I'm crazy. Yeah, crazy like a fox. People are SO lazy

I started doing this like 10’years ago. First time I did it my wife was like
Second time she was When we built a new house 3 years ago I stopped, not because I think it’s a bad idea, it’s not. Reason is we now have insurance to cover any possible leakage and I’m avoiding the from my wife.

Asking my wife why we don’t do it any more is because her husband became tied of instructing friends and family of how to turn on/off the water so they could water her flowers in the garden

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I started doing this like 10’years ago. First time I did it my wife was like
Second time she was When we built a new house 3 years ago I stopped, not because I think it’s a bad idea, it’s not. Reason is we now have insurance to cover any possible leakage and I’m avoiding the from my wife.

Asking my wife why we don’t do it any more is because her husband became tied of instructing friends and family of how to turn on/off the water so they could water her flowers in the garden

We have automatic sprinklers, and I want to keep the garden alive while we travel. That's why I have been considering installing a Moen Flo or similar, I think someone mentioned these above. They install on your water main and shut off in the event of abnormal water flow. I'm not sure how often they trigger a false alarm, but they seem to get pretty good reviews.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Who are you kidding? Many of our neighbors can’t get insurance now.

The community has valid concerns regarding the Zone 0 planning.

Personally, I’m all in favor of any reasonable measures which minimizes fire risk

Can they get insurance through the state FAIR plan or no insurance at all? My son just purchased a house in Saratoga and was surprised that his only option was the state FAIR plan. It's just an average suburban house, and it does not seem like a particularly high fire risk to me.

 

[Ken555]

Can they get insurance through the state FAIR plan or no insurance at all? My son just purchased a house in Saratoga and was surprised that his only option was the state FAIR plan. It's just an average suburban house, and it does not seem like a particularly high fire risk to me.

Yes, those who can’t get insurance must go to CA FAIR for fire insurance, but it’s expensive and often won’t cover the entire value of the home due to their limits. And, then they need to get another policy for everything else since FAIR is just for fire coverage.

Keep in mind FAIR is the worst. I have numerous neighbors suing them right now for not honoring the policy, and even the courts recently agreed that FAIR must cover smoke damage (they actually denied any coverage for smoke damage…it’s just insane).

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I saw some news coverage about the smoke claims, but I had forgotten that. I am not confident, but hopefully, the home insurance industry will stabilize.

So far, our coverage with CSAA has increased in cost, but it's still affordable. I did drop our earthquake coverage because the cost just kept going up and up. But we have also made many seismic improvements to our house.

 

[b2bailey]

We own a second home in the Tahoe area. We were dropped by our insurance so purchased a non-admitted provider for a while - Lloyds at $4000/year for a small 3 bdrm home. Crazy but that was better than the Calif Fair plan which is terrible coverage. We had no other choice.

Fortunately our insurance broker found us a great policy for a fraction of that with a reputable carrier. We also have our primary insurance with this carrier. Our broker believes having all of our policies with them is why they are not dropping our policy or raising rates significantly.

Every year that we are renewed at a "reasonable" rate we breathe a sigh of relief.

Do you mind sharing name of your carrier?