Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner, on Sept. 19 placed a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance company cancellations and nonrenewals for three-quarters of a million policyholders affected by fires in Southern California.
The insurance commissioner was granted the authority to issue moratoriums by Senate Bill 824, introduced by Lara, then a state senator, and signed into law in 2018, which prohibits insurers from canceling or refusing renewals for residential properties located in wildfire areas if a state of emergency is declared. Policyholders who lose their home to fire are protected for 24 months.
