California Commissioner Orders Insurance Cancellation Moratorium for new Wildfire

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Friday ordered insurers to preserve residential insurance coverage following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest emergency declaration over as another major wildfire threatens Siskiyou County homeowners.

Lara’s order shields properties within the perimeter or in adjacent ZIP codes of the Mill Fire from insurance non-renewal or cancellation for one year from the date of the Governor’s Sept. 2 declaration regardless of whether they suffered a loss.

The order comes one month after Lara took similar action to protect Siskiyou County residents affected by the McKinney and China 2 fires.

“As wildfire emergencies have continued to threaten Siskiyou County, I am taking action to protect residents’ insurance coverage and give them peace of mind Lara said in a statement.

The order includes seven ZIP codes, bringing the total number of Siskiyou County policyholders under protection to an estimated 14,890. Lara previously moved to protect homeowners’ insurance coverage for Siskiyou County residents following gubernatorial-declared wildfire emergencies in 2020 and 2021.

Consumers can go to the California Department of Insurance website to see if their ZIP code is included in the moratorium.

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