A bipartisan bill that would require homeowner insurance companies to disclose what models they use to assess insurance prices is getting a hearing in front of the legislature Tuesday.
The Wildfire Insurance Transparency Act, House Bill 618, would require companies to explain to homeowners in plain language what their wildfire risk score is and what factors play into increasing it.
Republican Senator Mark Sauter (R-Sandpoint) co-sponsors the bill with Rep. Monica Church (D-Boise).
“If we can give some fire departments and the people that they protect, just some solid information on how they are rated and what's important to those that do this for business, i.e. the insurance companies, then people can make some good, solid decisions,” Sauter said, as a guest on Idaho Matters Tuesday.
“We're just asking for the ingredients of how they do things. We're not asking for the recipe,” he added.
If passed, HB 618 would also allow homeowners to appeal their wildfire risk score and help them learn what preventative measures they could take to protect their property.
“You would be able to provide what you have done, what mitigating efforts you've done, new roofing, defensible space, fire resistant landscaping, etc to your insurance provider,” Church said, also speaking on Idaho Matters. “And then they would need to provide any list of possible discounts.”
Companies would also have to post their scoring rubrics publicly, on the Department of Insurance's website.
State data shows that insurers have canceled thousands of homeowner policies across the state, and raised premiums on average by nearly 40 percent between 2022 and 2024.
The bill will be discussed Wednesday in front of the House Business Committee.
To learn more about the homeowners insurance crisis in the West, click here.
