The state insurance commissioner’s new pricing regulation that recognizes and rewards wildfire safety and mitigation efforts by homeowners is now being enforced. Nevada County’s Senior Management Analyst, Jeff Thorsby, says that means insurance companies must submit new rate filings incorporating the standards within the next six months. They must also establish a process for releasing wildfire risk determinations to residents and businesses. He says premiums should likely drop and policies renewed if people meet six main components…

click to listen to Jeff Thorsby

Meanwhile, Cal Fire says about 75-percent of the county is still considered at high risk for wildfires. But Thorsby says progress is being made. He says the county now has 75 firewise communities, which may be the highest of any county in the state…

click to listen to Jeff Thorsby

Thorsby says currently each insurance company does its own risk analysis and there’s no transparency on how they do it. The Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the Department of Insurance three years ago that included that concern.