Advice on covering $5Mil+ homes in California brushfire areas

[Sammy Martinez]

Hey everyone, I am looking for recommendations on which company can cover homes over $5mil in California brushfire areas. I have some clients on the Fair Plan but it only goes up to $3mil. I would like to find a policy that can cover the whole amount or even an excess over the $3mil.

 

[marindependent]

Sammy there are handful of companies that do $5MM homes in California, unfortunately few that will do it in a brushfire zone right now.

Believe it or not a $3MM FAIR plan might not be such a bad option when you consider the alternatives. Finding a DIC plan to match it though can also be difficult.

Have you approached the non admitted markets yet? Lloyds, Scottsdale, Lexington, Prime? Etc?

On the admitted side there are just a few options out there.

 

[Sammy Martinez]

Thanks for the input, I have messages out to Lexington and Prime right now, but have got turned down by Scottsdale and Lloyds. I will keep looking and hopefully find some good options soon. If anyone else has some advice, I would love to hear!

 

[Allen Trent]

Hey everyone, I am looking for recommendations on which company can cover homes over $5mil in California brushfire areas. I have some clients on the Fair Plan but it only goes up to $3mil. I would like to find a policy that can cover the whole amount or even an excess over the $3mil.

sorry, but hopefully none of the carriers I have policies nor any of the carriers that are part of my 401k investments or part of the S&P 500 as I would question their underwriting practices

 

[Markthebroker]

sorry, but hopefully none of the carriers I have policies nor any of the carriers that are part of my 401k investments or part of the S&P 500 as I would question their underwriting practices

I'm not following. Why would you question their underwriting practices?

 

[Allen Trent]

I'm not following. Why would you question their underwriting practices?

Knowingly choosing to insure high value homes in the most high risk locations is not sustainable & usually why the Fair Plans or Govt programs (flood ins) have to jump into those type of risks. so, I would question their decision to underwrite not only the high risk area, but also why they would further add risk with high value in that high risk area. in some areas of risk, there sometimes is no premium worth the risk when there is plenty of other properties to insure where you can eliminate or lower the likelihood of claim & especially total loss

 

[marindependent]

The FAIR plan only writes up to a TIC of $3MM which leaves wealthier homeowners with a difficult decision.

The business model is completely different than regular insurers and this is why certain Affluent carriers specialize in it. One of the core issues though is that the pricing model needs to be updated and that requires [in this case] the California DOI.

The DOI will eventually either have to allow a higher TIC or allow much more pricing flexibility in the WUI property market.

Keep in mind that many of these Affluent insurance policies come with their own private wildfire forces to come and shield a home from an incoming threat. In addition many of these homes are exceptionally well fortified in comparison to older run of the mill homes. And these insurers are not shy about making demands about the condition and inspections of these homes either.

 

[Allen Trent]

The FAIR plan only writes up to a TIC of $3MM which leaves wealthier homeowners with a difficult decision.

The business model is completely different than regular insurers and this is why certain Affluent carriers specialize in it. One of the core issues though is that the pricing model needs to be updated and that requires [in this case] the California DOI.

The DOI will eventually either have to allow a higher TIC or allow much more pricing flexibility in the WUI property market.

Keep in mind that many of these Affluent insurance policies come with their own private wildfire forces to come and shield a home from an incoming threat. In addition many of these homes are exceptionally well fortified in comparison to older run of the mill homes. And these insurers are not shy about making demands about the condition and inspections of these homes either.

I get all of that as ways a carrier attempts to mitigate risk, etc & I like it as an agent. I am merely saying as a consumer or as an investor, I would prefer any carriers I am a customer of or an owner of stay away from extreme risks when possible

 

[EugeneM]

High Net Worth Insurance | PURE Insurance
More than just insurance coverage, a smart solution for families who have more to protect.

Pure comes to mind for high value personal lines.

 

[Sam]

You should call Bob Klee from www.kellyklee.com He is a longtime friend of the forum and I think they are now working with brokers. No one has more access to high value/private client p&c carriers.