Is the insurance on your Whatcom County home not being renewed? You’re not alone

WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) says it has been contacted by citizens reporting that their home insurance is not being renewed, sometimes due to wildfire risk.

OIC reports there are about 130 companies writing home insurance policies in Washington State.

There have been instances of companies reducing their risk in certain areas by not renewing the policies on some homes, likely due to fire risk. In this case, companies must give you a 45-day notice of non-renewal; this changes to 60 days later this year.

There is no law requiring companies to continue to offer coverage they’ve offered in the past. Companies can make any business decision they see fit, and they can choose to reduce risk in certain areas. Most companies use a third-party wildfire risk score, which they apply to their own standards to determine if they want to cover that risk. Every company is different, however, and homeowners in Washington have largely been able to find a company to cover their home if they’ve been non-renewed by their old insurance company.

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– The Office of the Insurance Commissioner (January 30, 2025)

OIC offers the following resources for citizens.

• More information about fires and insurance in Washington.
  This blog post collects all of our published resources on fires and home insurance.
• What’s it mean to be underinsured?
  This episode of the OIC Answers podcast covers claims data from the Gray and Oregon Road fires, wildfire mitigation efforts, and how to make sure your home has enough coverage in the event of a worst-case scenario.
• What’s going on with home insurance?
  This episode of the OIC Answers podcast covers home insurance non-renewals, why rates have gone up, what impacts premiums, and how insurance companies can use drones.
• Contact OIC insurance experts.
  The OIC’s Consumer Protection team has staff available by phone (1–800–562–6900) or online chat to help answer questions about your insurance and, in some cases, advocate on your behalf.

OIC says they asked insurance companies last fall to provide data on how many policies are not being renewed along with where and why those non-renewals are happening. “This additional information, which should be available soon, will provide a better understanding of the market and could inform policy options to address the issue.”