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State proposes new mandate that could impact growing concern with homeowners insurance: 'Many of the issues could have been prevented or mitigated'

"Today, their rates are going down, while ours are going up."

"Today, their rates are going down, while ours are going up."

Photo Credit: iStock

With the availability and affordability of home insurance becoming a growing concern for people throughout the United States, the Idaho Department of Insurance is being proactive.

BoiseDev reported that in a Jan. 15 State Legislature House Business Committee meeting, Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron pushed a measure to help communities that could be denied insurance because of wildfire risks.

The Idaho Wildfire Risk Mitigation and Stabilization Pool Act would assist homeowners with funds to protect their properties from wildfire damage, which should convince insurers to provide coverage or lower premiums. 

The bill is set to go before the House Business Committee and could soon be passed into law.

"Many of the issues could have been prevented or mitigated," Cameron said of previous wildfire damages. "So what the bill does is it takes two proven insurance strategies and tries to put those forth in a way that can help stabilize the market, help pull rates down, help insurance companies stay in Idaho."

Whether it's wildfire damage, flooding risks, or the likelihood of hurricane destruction, insurance companies are increasingly not offering protection against these issues. Extreme weather is becoming longer, stronger, more intense, and more likely because of the rising global temperature, which is exacerbated by the human-caused production of planet-warming pollution.

Without appropriate insurance, homeowners are liable for significant financial losses from these events, or else property values are dropping because of them.

Mitigation and property protection is becoming increasingly important because of this — as is reducing our polluting impact — and the Idaho Department of Insurance is hoping that by helping homeowners prepare for these weather issues, they can get further assistance from insurance companies should the worst happen.

Cameron pointed to the success of similar assistance programs elsewhere, particularly in the Southeast. With funds available to make their homes more prepared for hurricanes, homeowners are shrinking their insurance premiums.

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"Today, their rates are going down, while ours are going up, because we have no mechanism for mitigation," Cameron told BoiseDev.

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