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Comment by chrisplotz | Hacker News Reader

Thanks! Yeah, if the whole industry ended up working the way we do, we'd be thrilled.

To your question: Premium: Our model has granular rating for high risk areas (fire is the biggest issue there). And part of that is the defensibility of the specific property for sure. But unfortunately the biggest factors there are all location specific - distance to water, slope, ease of access, distance to burnable area, etc, which not much can be done about. This is why although it is hard, communities investing in collective defense has the biggest impact on insurance prices.

On claims: We have reinsurance, so no need to fear us being blown out capital-wise. To actually get the claims paid and work done we (like most others) have contracts with emergency-overflow claims administration teams, so that a force is ready at peak times.

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> fire is the biggest issue there

A few months ago during the socal fires my community was up in flames, as were a lot of other's.

The house a mile down from me burned. We were evacuated

There is no insurance company willing to insure our area

> This is why although it is hard, communities investing in collective defense has the biggest impact on insurance prices.

100%. My neighbors and I self insure. We have built defensible areas and maintain it together.

It's cheaper (?) to self insure than pay premiums some, who managed to get a quote, said.

It is a lot of work maintaining that defensible area and keeping it up to spec!

We like to say our actions stopped the fire from spreading but when I saw embers in the air around me, I could not stay around to verify whether that was true.

Our firefighting department, incidentally less than a mile away from us, is one of our best buddies.

This is possible because of the rural location I have chosen to live in.

I see no way of pulling this off in a city.

I will keep checking with you and recommend to my community.

Please keep it up

Firstly, I'm sorry to hear about your community, that is rough and hope people are ok. And thank you (and your fire buddies - my cousin is a wildfire-fighter) for all your work to keep your community safe!

To your question on self insurance - it's a matter of risk and statistics. No insurance is less money up front than coverage, but you retain the risk which may or may not cost a lot. We give a quote everywhere, and we think it accurately represents the risk Goodcover is covering for you, but I concede it is more expensive than it used to be.

Something else to know - CA has a non-renewal moratorium in force for wildfire areas, if anyone is being cancelled or non-renewed in your area please check this out: http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/20...

> CA has a non-renewal moratorium in force for wildfire areas

Thank you sharing the link as this raises a question I think you are perfect to ask:

What are your thoughts on this regulation?

Would it now, in effect, significantly increase premiums for everyone now that an insurance company cannot drop the high risk customers?

Feel free to email me as the answer might be not something you want to make public.

If you can answer, and I think the answer is yes, how much in hike in premiums would account for this regulation?

So, given the underlying risk, I think the premium for wildfire in CA will be going up in general with or without this. The moratorium on non-renewal only lasts one year, and really just reiterates existing law. Most insurers have been trying to adjust their rates long before this came out.

How much is hard to say. An old mentor of mine always said, "There's a price for every risk, but sometimes it's as much as the limit of insurance." That's a bit geeky but basically, as wildfire becomes more common, the models will adjust to accommodate. Community efforts to make their communities more resilient will go a long way though, like mentioned above.

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