Calif fires - insurance losses not adding up

Owen Lucas said:
What fire mitigation was being offered? Cutting back vegetation, or some type of fire consulting?

I'd love to live in a wooded area away from other humans one day.

My thoughts are to have plenty of open land around the house with possibly some type of hardscaping to prevent fire from spreading onto the property. Dealing with falling embers is another issue, one can build a roof top sprinkler system but it better be reliable and self powered.
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Once embers start flying it's all over. Even if your house is saved-you have dozens upon dozens of houses burned to the ground next to you. You will be without utilities for months. You are talking replacing poles, lines, etc.

Mitigation is just a piece of the puzzle. Open land around you in So Cal will cost millions-literally.
 
CKN said:
Once embers start flying it's all over. Even if your house is saved-you have dozens upon dozens of houses burned to the ground next to you. You will be without utilities for months. You are talking replacing poles, lines, etc.
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That's a good scenario considering the circumstances IMHO. Nothing a generator can't take care of. Other than the apocalyptic landscape it would be pretty quiet until rebuilding starts.
 
Owen Lucas said:
That's a good scenario considering the circumstances IMHO. Nothing a generator can't take care of. Other than the apocalyptic landscape it would be pretty quiet until rebuilding starts.
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Fresh water and even the sewer lines would be in question. You would possibly have to be off grid completely.
 
Owen Lucas said:
What fire mitigation was being offered? Cutting back vegetation, or some type of fire consulting?

I'd love to live in a wooded area away from other humans one day.

My thoughts are to have plenty of open land around the house with possibly some type of hardscaping to prevent fire from spreading onto the property. Dealing with falling embers is another issue, one can build a roof top sprinkler system but it better be reliable and self powered.
Click to expand...
Xeriscaping is one of the big ones along with materials resistant to burning. One guy on the news in Colorado went with stucco and rocks around his house along with a metal roof. Apparently his insurance company dropped him as something to the effect of it "not meeting standards " even though it was built to be fire resistant. A number of firefighters that I spoke with said that some of the mountain driveways were so thick with trees and bushes that they couldn't get their equipment in position. Plus some cabins or homes were surrounded by trees almost guaranteeing a fire.
 
97prizm said:
Xeriscaping is one of the big ones along with materials resistant to burning. One guy on the news in Colorado went with stucco and rocks around his house along with a metal roof. Apparently his insurance company dropped him as something to the effect of it "not meeting standards " even though it was built to be fire resistant. A number of firefighters that I spoke with said that some of the mountain driveways were so thick with trees and bushes that they couldn't get their equipment in position. Plus some cabins or homes were surrounded by trees almost guaranteeing a fire.
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I think you mean zeroscape (a lot of rock) as opposed to xeriscape (thoughtful irrigation).
 
97prizm said:
Xeriscaping is one of the big ones along with materials resistant to burning. One guy on the news in Colorado went with stucco and rocks around his house along with a metal roof. Apparently his insurance company dropped him as something to the effect of it "not meeting standards " even though it was built to be fire resistant. A number of firefighters that I spoke with said that some of the mountain driveways were so thick with trees and bushes that they couldn't get their equipment in position. Plus some cabins or homes were surrounded by trees almost guaranteeing a fire.
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The insurance companies need to be able to understand the fire risk and then set the premium accordingly. The homeowner can then decide if it's worth it.

Calif & Florida seem to want to enact state laws on what rates the insurance companies can charge. It's pretty simple, either the insurance company needs to be able to set the premium that covers the risk or they won't write the policy. They are not going to write a policy where the premium does not cover the risk and loose money.

Aside from a state insurance fund I am not sure what state laws could be written to fix things.

I think Florida enacted some legislation that lowered the financial requirements that an insurance company needed to meet before they could do business in Florida. Several new insurance company came into being and things looked good until there was a season of big losses and these somewhat new insurance companies could not pay the claims and went belly up.
 
It's going to be a long time before a lot of folks are able to rebuild , even if they have the money . Some areas are basically undeveloped now . Electricity gone . Water and sewage , gone . Telephone , cable , fiber optic , gone . Even the streets are beyond repair . It will be like starting over from scratch . Can you imagine the permitting and inspection process ? Materials and skilled labor ? Jobsite security ? One nightmare after another .
 
Nessism1 said:
My house, in So Calif, is valued over $1M. But it's not the structure that holds the big value, it's the dirt. Point being, published stats about loss may be skewed; if looking at total property value vs just the structure value.
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Ya. I remember seeing a house in Compton appraised at $1M with site value of $900k.
 
Donald said:
The insurance companies need to be able to understand the fire risk and then set the premium accordingly. The homeowner can then decide if it's worth it.

Calif & Florida seem to want to enact state laws on what rates the insurance companies can charge. It's pretty simple, either the insurance company needs to be able to set the premium that covers the risk or they won't write the policy. They are not going to write a policy where the premium does not cover the risk and loose money.

Aside from a state insurance fund I am not sure what state laws could be written to fix things.

I think Florida enacted some legislation that lowered the financial requirements that an insurance company needed to meet before they could do business in Florida. Several new insurance company came into being and things looked good until there was a season of big losses and these somewhat new insurance companies could not pay the claims and went belly up.
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The WSJ ran an article a few weeks ago where internal documents at State Farm indicated that they knew they needed to increase premiums by 25% YoY for the last couple of years before the fire. Strangely SF only asked the state for something like a 7% increase (California would never approve the 25% anyways), and they continued to write policies until the risk became too great at which point they pulled out.

The majority of homeowners went with the state plan aka FAIR Plan.
 
Back in the 1920s and 1930s, when the environment was unsupportive, people packed up and moved thousands of miles across the U.S.

Plenty of fresh water and very affordable housing in Detroit, MI; Toledo, OH; Gary, IN; Decatur, IL; Davenport, IA; Memphis, TN; Shreveport, LA. Maybe residents of Southern California should look to migrate back east where there is affordable housing, ample fresh water, and significant reduction from wildfire risks?
 
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GON said:
Back in the 1920s and 1930s, when the environment was unsupportive, people packed up and moved.

Plenty of fresh water and very affordable housing in Detroit, MI; Toledo, OH; Gary, IN; Decatur, IL; Davenport, IA; Memphis, TN; Shreveport, LA. Maybe residents of Southern California should look to migrate back east where there is affordable housing, ample fresh water, and significant reduction from wildfire risks?
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Climate is a huge draw, despite the risks. I personally would never consider living in any of those cities for reasons other than climate.
 
Been watching “Santa Monica Close Up” on YouTube for raw footage of the devastation, aftermath, and cleanup operations.
I grew up in the Palisades, interesting how the memories come back even when so much has gone.
 
GON said:
Back in the 1920s and 1930s, when the environment was unsupportive, people packed up and moved thousands of miles across the U.S.

Plenty of fresh water and very affordable housing in Detroit, MI; Toledo, OH; Gary, IN; Decatur, IL; Davenport, IA; Memphis, TN; Shreveport, LA. Maybe residents of Southern California should look to migrate back east where there is affordable housing, ample fresh water, and significant reduction from wildfire risks?
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Trade great weather but with fires and earthquakes for hot humid weather with hurricanes, flooding, and tornadoes. ;)
 
GON said:
Plenty of fresh water and very affordable housing in Detroit, MI; Toledo, OH; Gary, IN; Decatur, IL; Davenport, IA; Memphis, TN; Shreveport, LA. Maybe residents of Southern California should look to migrate back east where there is affordable housing, ample fresh water, and significant reduction from wildfire risks?
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If we ever have to move from here for environmental or water problems I can guarantee it won't be to Detroit, Toledo, Gary, Davenport, or Shreveport. :sick:
 
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