New California Homeowners’ Insurance Requirement
New California law mandates additional homeowners’ insurance requirement. In response to the massive destruction caused by numerous California wildfires over the past several years, California is taking steps to enact laws that seek to fund wildfire prevention and protect consumers impacted by wildfires. One of the biggest issues that homeowners’ who lost their homes are facing, is the unfortunate discovery that they are underinsured. Outdated or inaccurate replacement cost estimates are often the cause of the problem. For homeowners with replacement cost coverage, a new law, which goes into effect January 1, 2019 will require insurers to provide, every other year before policy renewal time, an estimate of the cost to rebuild or replace the home in a way that complies with existing insurance regulations. The new law is aimed at improving the information available to policyholders so they can make informed decisions about how much coverage to buy. The law goes into effect July 1, 2019, and has several exceptions. See Ins C §10103.4 (added by Stats 2018, ch 205).
No matter where you live, it is always advisable to review your insurance with your insurance broker regularly. Insurance is one of those products that we consider to be a key piece of your asset protection plan. We know that buying insurance is not a particularly sexy or gratifying purchase, but if you ever need it, you will be glad you did.