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California will require insurance companies to provide discounts to homeowners who make their houses safer from wildfires, possibly setting an example for other states and communities facing skyrocketing insurance costs driven by climate change.
The new rules, which go into effect later this year, require insurance companies to provide property owners with a "wildfire risk score" that can be appealed by policyholders. The state's insurance commissioner said homeowners had complained that companies weren't acknowledging steps to increase fire resiliency, like clearing defensible space and using fire-resistant roofing material.
According to the Los Angeles Times, more than 6,800 wildfires have burned in California this year, killing nine people and destroying nearly 900 structures.
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It’s like they say, ‘I'm going to give all these liabilities to my destitute neighbor.’ You can't imagine that cleanup will actually happen.”
