Did you see last week's blog from our company, Mercury Insurance, discussing opportunities to decrease your home insurance premiums through home hardening measures? This week we're going to unpack that a bit and explore the relevance of these preventative actions for you and your home.
If you missed last week's feature you can see the full blog here.
To follow up, let's talk in some simple, non insurance lingo about what insurance companies can offer those of us in California living under the threat of wildfire.
From the location of our insurance office in Santa Rosa (620 College Avenue) to the Mayacamas Mountains bordering Santa Rosa and beyond, fire insurance changes radically depending on your risk factors. Single family homes in areas like Santa Rosa may be temporarily excluded by zip code from certain companies but totally eligible for others.
For example, a client of ours recently bought a home near Montgomery Village in Santa Rosa, and while they may have neighbors with existing Mercury policies, houses in their neighborhood aren't currently eligible for new policies with Mercury due to moderate fire risk in their area. We were able to match them with a company that fit their needs as homeowners, but in a more urban or suburban setting like this, the potential for fire mitigation efforts as described in last week's blog aren't as applicable and coverage eligibility is more location based. However, as we venture into more fire prone areas, like the charred hills above Rincon Valley affected by our most recent Glass Fire (2020), new policies can be harder to come by while existing policies may remain intact thanks to preventative measures.
These opportunities to offset the rising cost of existing home insurance policies may help to maintain your insurance coverage for wildfire damage at more manageable rates, especially for those living in a rural, more fire-prone area. If that sounds like you, it's absolutely in your best interest to look into fire hardening your home, creating defensible space, or participating in community programs.