California Wildfire Destroys 243 Structures, Cancellation Moratorium Issued

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies to preserve residential insurance coverage for more than 200,000 policyholders affected by the Mountain Fire, which has destroyed 243 structures.

The order shields those living within the perimeters or adjoining ZIP Codes of the fire from insurance non-renewal or cancellation for one year from the date of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s emergency declarations regardless of whether they suffered a loss. Newsom declared a state of emergency on Nov. 7 and announced FEMA’s approval of a Fire Management Assistance Grant to support state and local firefighting response.

The California Department of Insurance is deploying staff to Ventura County to assist survivors in filing claims and protect communities from potential insurance fraud and abuse.

The Mountain Fire has burned 19,904 acres and its 98% contained.

More than 243 structures have been destroyed, and 127 were damaged, according to CalFire.

Lara last week issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies to preserve residential insurance coverage for more than 11,000 policyholders affected by the Shelly Fire located in Siskiyou County and the Bear Fire located in Sierra County.