Home Insurance Recommendation?

I have friends up north who also had their insurance canceled, and all their neighbors. It may have been just the fire part, I really don't know. However, their 1st option was only Lloyds of London; I think they took a few but then realized what the risk was. So then Lloyds refused so the State has to cover, at 2xs the rate.

Lexington is more affordable than Lloyds. Contact a local agent/broker because they will have the most options and they will know who is still willing to write in your neighborhood.

Contact Kait Cortenbach, State Farm Insurance. They are likely writing insurance policies in hard to insure areas. www.MyAgentKait.com

Just don’t insure with Allstate, even if premium free, because Allstate doesn’t respond to claims for months and pays one cent on a dollar loss— IF claimant lucky. Moreover, Allstate Agents only sell policies but do not have any obligation or ethical responsibility to assist clients. Lawsuits are costly; frazzled fire victims are also burned out emotionally running low on energy. Allstate abandons clients when in need. CA ratings confirm this post. Buyer beware. If you have Allstate and can switch, do it. Sadly most customers in high fire zones are stuck. Mortgage companies will only insure to face value of their mortgage loan. It all sucks because politicians are self-serving too. We need advocates!

Check with an independent insurance agent... they can write with multiple companies and can help you navigate the different coverage options and rates. The last resort is a fire policy with the California fair plan and a wrap around homeowners policy. Bottom line is the rate will be double if you are within 1000 feet of brush. The insurance companies are public stock companies and you can't expect them to operate in the negative.

Neighbor with house in escrow, the sale fell through because State Farm refused to write new policy with new owner, due to perceived "fire risk." They advised after 6 months they might relax the restriction but it is tough to find willing insurers. Ironically, despite the dry grasses the recent fires cleaned out 30 & 40 year overgrown (12' dia!) old chaparral thus mitigating fire risk for the better for decades! If anything, I believe we need more fires, not less, to keep the threat of truly epic fires under control. And all of the new growth we're now seeing is providing a huge amount of CO2 absorption and O2 generation, and will do so for several years - a feature greatly diminished or even reversed in decades-old plants filled with deadwood and decaying material.

An independent agent is probably a good bet; even if you managed to get a new policy on your own, no guarantee that company would insure you next year. As I understand it, not all insurers have yet factored in fire-loss data for 2018, so my guess is the policy cancellations will only grow.

Tammy Dobrotin, State Farm Insurance Agent will sit down with you and explain all your options. She is very knowledgable and competent. https://www.tammydobrotin.com/?cmpid=b8ce_blm_0001

We have never made a claim, have Farmers. Our agent Dave here in Carpinteria told me that the morning of the debris flow he didn't even know it happened until a client called saying she didn't have flood insurance and what should she do since her home was wrecked. Dave notified the main office at 9am. At 9:30a they called back and said any clients in the debris flow were covered because it was actually caused by the recent Thomas Fire, hence, covered by fire insurance. I thought that was very cool. Have no idea what goes on with them now as far as fire insurance goes.

We also had out insurance cancelled last year due to fire risk but it was pretty easy to source from another carrier. We were told by several companies that the carriers are trying to diversify their risk per area/neighborhood. Seems to mean that the carrier doesn't want to be the carrier for a large percentage of a neighborhood that burns. But they're happy to be the carrier for a much lower portion of homes. In my area, Chubb is the premium provider but I hear that they're also scaling back. Good luck.