...fire season that is. Recently I worked with a client who was buying a house in the Oakland hills. Before it closed escrow, he wanted to get an idea of how much his insurance would cost. The house is on a steep slope, and the area is woodsy, so he was expecting to pay no more than three grand. We ran some scenarios and he looked around at other solutions. The final price:
About $6,000!
And to top it off, many companies flat out refused to even offer him a quote. How can this be?
Now that we are in the fourth year of a drought, insurance companies have gotten skittish about writing homeowner's policies in perceived high-fire zones (which describes much of the state). Houses receive a fireline score, a number that runs from 1 - 30.
How is the score derived?
The score was developed by ISO - that's short for Insurance Services Office. They are an independent company that pulls together data, writes up standard insurance contracts, and files that information with state agencies. Not to get too geeky, but the score is based on three factors: (1) Slope - how steep is the property lot, (2) Fuel - how much combustible material surrounds the house, and (3) Access - how quickly can the fire department get there (how close is the station, what are the roads like etc). Each factor runs from 1 (good) to 5 (yikes!), and the overall formula looks like this:
(Slope x Fuel) + Access
I see this formula and try to imagine the possibilities: A house built into a hillside (5!) that is surrounded by Eucalyptus trees that explode in a fire (5!!) and is only accessible by driving up a 15-mile curvy one-lane dirt road (5!!!!), is probably a thirty. A cinder block house with no trees for miles built next to a fire station is probably a 0. Dismal perhaps, but plenty of parking.
At first glance this seems unfair, especially since a house can have a different score than it's neighbor depending on the slope. But as the summer progresses, it seems even more unusual that we have not had a major catastrophe. Each day for the last month, I receive notices for no less than four current fires, and maybe another four notices where the previous week's fires have been brought under control. Thankfully, these fires have been away from heavily populated areas. Take a look at this handy map of fires in the state:
California General Fire Map.
Or even of this map of fires in the LA region alone:
Fires in the LA region
My client ended up backing away from a house he really loved, but was too expensive to insure. Though the premium is high, he also understood that the risk is very real. Now's he's in negotiation for another house, still in the hills, but with a lower slope. So far the premiums are far more reasonable.
For all your insurance needs, call us at 925-588-3888 or go to my website. And while you're at it, please like us on Facebook.
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