Insurance

Alongside homeowners insurance premiums, costs for multi-family rental property policies and other insurance required in the business are also on the rise. That has big implications for tenants – especially those in subsidized or affordable housing.

Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho and Wyoming have no statewide wildfire building codes. Colorado adopted a code last year, with enforcement expected to begin this year. Most other Western states are somewhere in between.

Insurance regulation is complex, in part, because it’s done state-by-state, meaning there are dozens of different schemes across the country.

Proponents of a bill in Colorado say stronger roofs would mean less damage during storms, and lower home insurance costs.

Statehouses across the West are considering reforms to respond to the homeowners insurance crisis. While some are hitting headwinds, concern about the issue isn’t going away.

Using a massive data set detailing some 70 million policies, researchers have found that “credit scores impact homeowners insurance premiums as much as disaster risk.”

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.

Idaho lawmakers are pushing a bipartisan bill to make homeowners insurance more transparent, giving residents a clearer look at how wildfire risks are driving soaring premiums and policy cancellations.

Think of the phrase 'The Wildfire Crisis.' What comes to mind? Is it walls of flame marching through pine forests, laying siege to mountain towns? Recent research highlights a different and under-appreciated risk: fast fires racing through dry grass and brush – threatening neighborhoods.

Wildfire has numerous consequences for the West and, with many statehouses now in session, lawmakers across the region are trying to respond. Now there’s a new tool to track reform efforts.