In the midst of an extended wildfire season that's shaping up to be one of the worst in history, here's how to make sure your business and your clients, both personal and commercial, are protected.
California is now bracing for its worst-ever wildfire season.
That might seem like a confusing statement in the middle of June. But while wildfire season typically occurs between October and January, it’s still in full swing right now—making 2014 the second year in a row that wildfire season has stretched into hurricane season. It’s thanks in large part to the 100-year drought that’s currently plaguing the West—and the Golden State is not the only place facing the potentially devastating impacts of the extended timeline.
Donna Bacarti, a personal lines manager at Burns & Wilcox’s San Diego office with 30 years of industry experience, serves on the California Governing Committee for the state’s Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan, which provides fire protection insurance to homeowners who are unable to access it through regular channels. Bacarti says it’s never too late to start preparing for wildfire season—or to encourage your clients, both personal and commercial, to do the same.
IA: Why is it so important to prepare for wildfire season? Can you share some wildfire preparedness best practices?
Bacarti: You should have at least 100 feet surrounding your property of “defensible space.” The fire marshal will come out to certain areas of San Diego to assess property owners—we pay a fee for CAL FIRE to come out and protect our home in the event of a wildfire. We are also charged by the fire marshal if we don’t have that 100 feet of defensible space.
I make sure we keep the brush trims back—we do that on a religious basis. More important than that is making sure you don’t have a propane tank real close to your home—they explode. Make sure you don’t have any wood detachments around. People have the palapa umbrella over their barbecue—that’s dried grass and it will go up very quickly. Your wooden shed is a brush hazard. If that ember travels, if that little tiny ember lands on your palapa, you’re in trouble. It’s really important to just make sure your home or business is clear of any kind of wildfire fuel.
People here have gotten really smart. They’re planting ice plants, they’re removing their combustible roof, they’re protecting the interior of the properties by having fire sprinklers. Two of the insurance companies Burns & Wilcox does business with have even contracted with companies that will spray a fire-retardant material on the home before wildfire season.
What kinds of advice should independent insurance agents like our readers share with their commercial and personal lines clients about the kind of coverage that will best protect them in the event of a wildfire?
If you have a mortgage on your home, your lender requires that you maintain fire insurance. That doesn’t matter where your home is. But what happens oftentimes is people that live in apartments or rent single-family dwellings—they don’t own the building, so they think, “I don’t need renters insurance.” But if their home succumbs to a wildfire, all the personal property inside their home is gone.
Condominiums are different because the HOA primarily will cover the structure, but it does not cover the contents inside the condo. So it’s the same type of situation where if a wildfire occurs and the home burns to the ground, the condo owner now is without all their contents. Even though you have a mortgage on your condo, your bank does not require you to insure the contents because they have no financial interest in them. That’s what we saw two and a half weeks ago—there was a 15-unit apartment complex and a condo complex that burned to the ground. I wondered to myself, how many of those people realize they need to insure their valuables?
Anything else specific or unique independent agents need to remember about the nature of wildfire claims?
During the time of the wildfire event, the insurance companies impose a moratorium. So you’re not allowed to quote, bind or issue a policy until that wildfire is 100% contained. That’s within 30 miles of where the wildfire is occurring, because in a wildfire event, an ember from a wildfire can travel up to two miles. A wildfire creates its own wind, so if you’ve got 70-mph wind, you might think you’re safe—but you’re not.
Jacquelyn Connelly is IA senior editor.
