Reed Smith Client Alerts

Key takeaways

  • L.A. wildfire victims benefit from Commissioner Lara’s Notice halting pending non-renewals and cancellations issued within 90 days before start of fires
  • Commissioner Lara reminds insurers that existing law requires they provide 60-day grace period for payment of residential property insurance premiums upon state of emergency
  • Moratorium periods for non-renewals and cancellations are now imposed in fire perimeter (for one-year) and for those who lost their homes (for two years)
Firetruck

In his latest Notice No. 2025-01 on January 9, 2025, California Department of Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a minimum six-months pause on all pending property insurance cancellations and non-renewals that were issued within 90 days prior to January 7, 2025 where those cancellations and non-renewals would become effective after January 7, 2025. Effectively, this means that policyholders who were set to lose their insurance coverage when the fires erupted may be able to have such coverage reinstated for a bit longer.

I’m calling on all property insurance companies to forego any pending nonrenewals and cancellations that are due to take effect on residential properties located within and around these wildfires. Pending nonrenewals and cancellations would include notices that were sent from the insurance company to the policyholder in the previous ninety (90) days prior to January 7, 2025, but were not due to take effect until after the start of the January 7, 2025 wildfires. I am calling on all property insurance companies to pause these pending nonrenewals and cancellations for at least six months from January 7, 2025, to provide the necessary stability for the communities near these wildfires to concentrate on safety, recovery, and rebuilding.

The Notice requires insurers to take immediate steps to cease any pending non-renewals in the areas where these wildfires are taking place.