Insurance

    What you can ask your insurer

    If your carrier prices your policy using a wildfire risk model, there are specific things it can be asked to put in writing.

    1. The property level wildfire risk number it holds for you

      The wildfire figure the carrier holds for your address, as it is used to price the policy.

    2. Where that number sits in the range

      A number on its own means little. Ask where it falls relative to the rest of the book.

    3. A property specific explanation

      Which characteristics of your property drive that number, stated for your property rather than in general terms.

    4. What each listed measure would do to your policy

      For each mitigation measure on the statutory list, the effect on your own policy if you put it in place. Only your carrier can answer that.

    How to make the request

    Put it in writing, address it to your carrier rather than to your agent alone, and attach your documentation. Your assessment gives you the inventory to send: which defensible space measures your property currently meets, in the order the methodology lists them, with the evidence tier stated alongside.

    Background: how insurers use defensible space.

    Start your assessment