Nationwide working to limit damage from California wildfires

As massive wildfires wreak havoc again in California, Nationwide is trying to limit the damage — both to homeowners and to its bottom line.

The Columbus-based insurer does business in California and so far has received more than 300 claims from the latest round of wildfires.

It is working with homeowners to reduce the risk of fires. Those who don’t comply with the instructions risk losing Nationwide as an insurer.

“Nationwide continues to carefully manage its property portfolio in states where wildfire exposure is prevalent,” spokesman Eric Hardgrove said in a email.

“For the past several years, we have proactively inspected homes to ensure members take appropriate steps to mitigate their property against the risk of wildfires. If they do not take these steps, we will not continue coverage.”

Steps include spacing trees on the property, preventing birds from building nests on clay-roof tiles, removing dead vegetation, cutting dead limbs from trees and not planting trees and other vegetation close to the home.

“Recently, a member near one of the wildfires in northern California reported that they were able to avoid major damage from the flames after implementing our fire-mitigation tips,” Hardgrove said.

The California Department of Insurance is warning homeowners that the increased number and severity of fires are making it harder for homeowners in the state to find and hold insurance.

“We are not at a crisis point yet, but you can see where the trends are going,” California Insurance Commissioner David Jones said in an interview with The Associated Press.

There are nearly 20 fires burning across the state with 20,000 people under evacuation orders.

Insurance Commissioner Jones told the AP he expects more insurance companies to opt not to renew policies or to simply stop writing homeowners policies in areas with the highest fire risk.

Hardgrove said Nationwide implemented a rate increase in March that was submitted to the state before last year’s fires.

The problem is most pronounced in high-risk fire areas. In the 24 California counties with the highest fire risk, the number of non-renewals increased 15 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to a Department of Insurance report.

Insurers dropped more than 10,000 policies in those counties in 2016.

Consumers may also get frustrated when they find out their policies will not be renewed or cannot find coverage easily.

“We do have a healthy market and we do have insurance available,” said Janet Ruiz, the West Coast representative of the Insurance Information Institute. “You do have to shop and compare.”

Last year’s wildfires in California caused roughly $12 billion in insurance claims, the most expensive year on record. But officials and experts warn that the state could be facing its toughest wildfire season yet.

State law prohibits all of an insurer’s catastrophic losses from being passed on to consumers at one time. So the impact on rates may come over several years.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this story.

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CREDIT: MARK WILLIAMS