Wildfire Wire: Seeking discounts for homeowner’s insurance

By Mel Crichton EBS COLUMNIST

Life has a way of throwing you a curve just when you think you’re cruising along. This month’s column was supposed to be an overview of our wildfire season outlook by Jon Trapp, Big Sky Fire Department wildland fire chief. But Monday night, in the middle of our training session for neighborhood wildfire ambassadors, Jon got a call to deploy immediately to the fire raging south of Red Lodge. Let’s hope everybody is safe over there. 

One topic that received a lot of discussion in our training session was homeowner’s insurance—the elephant in the room, the one that almost every neighbor brings up when we visit. Homeowner insurance rates in Big Sky are much higher than they are for an equivalent home in Miles City or even Bozeman because we are in the wildland-urban interface, where residences are at greater risk for wildfire. In fact, you likely know that our probability for property damage caused by wildfire is greater than 96% of all U.S. towns. 

Some insurers, especially smaller ones with limited assets, won’t touch a home in the 59716 zip code. Some insurers will “inspect” a home for risk by looking at aerial photography. And the ones who can afford bigger claims, like a Big Sky wildfire could generate, will actually visit the site before deciding. They all have their risk grading system, and none of them share how their systems work. In the past, the answer has usually been “yes” or “no” with little explanation.

As Wildfire Wire reported last year, the Montana legislature passed two house bills, HB 136 and HB 533, to help the consumer’s home insurance bill. HB 136 allows insurers to offer discounts for owners mitigating wildfire risk on their properties, and HB 533 requires an insurer to provide a reason for denial of insurance, including providing their rating score. But neither of these laws seems to have been aggressively put into effect. To our knowledge, it appears that the companies that do offer mitigation discounts in other wildfire states have not done so in Montana. But our state legislator, Alanah Griffith, says she’s working to find out what’s happening.

One large insurer in Montana recently told its agents that homes considered deniable may become eligible for insurance with the “Wildfire Prepared Home” designation from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. In some states, that could lead to a rate discount.  We don’t know if any insurer has offered discounts for wildfire mitigation.

Companies base their discounts on a self-grading system developed by IBHS. Many of the homes in Big Sky could qualify for a discount if they meet basic requirements. Even if no discounts are available, a homeowner can follow the checklist  on the IBHS website, reducing the odds of an ember-induced home fire, the kind that burns over 80% of homes lost in wildfires nationally. For most Big Sky owners, that means saving not just the house, but the memories and time invested in it.

The wheels of government turn slowly—too slowly if we consider how quickly a wildfire can change our lives. If you are denied insurance, you may contact the state insurance commissioner’s office. And in some cases, owners of fire-mitigated homes have bypassed their local agents to discuss mitigation directly with the insurer’s underwriters.  If denied, ask for the rating score as stated in HB 533. The insurer may refuse, but Montana law says you can ask.

If you are not happy that homeowners in other states are getting discounts, or if you need a financial carrot to get you interested in doing some simple mitigation, you need to act. Ask your insurance agent if discounts are being offered. Making communities more resilient benefits all of us—homeowners, insurers and the businesses that rely on the tourists who come to Big Sky to sample the good life. 

If you do meet the requirements for a wildfire-prepared home, ask your agent for a discount.  The sanswer might be “no,” but eventually it will happen. Who knows? Your home might be the first.

Mel Crichton acts as neighborhood ambassador coordinator for Fire Adapted Big Sky. He may be reached at kj9c@comcast.net.