Bill could help high Utah house insurance costs by redefining wildfire zones

by Cristina Flores, KUTV

Tue, January 21, 2025 at 10:32 PM

A new Utah bill seeks to more accurately define wildfire risk zones in the state, a move that could impact homeowners' insurance rates for thousands of residents who have seen rates increase by 20% in the last year.

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- topics:
- Wildfire risk
- Utah bill
- Homeowners insurance
- Mapping system
- Insurance rates
- Casey Snider
- Wildland-urban interface
- Fire mitigation
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A new Utah bill seeks to more accurately define wildfire risk zones in the state, a move that could impact homeowners' insurance rates for thousands of residents who have seen rates increase by 20% in the last year.

Some residents have been dropped by insurance companies that cite wildfire risk.

State Rep. Casey Snider, a volunteer firefighter of 14 years, is sponsoring HB 48, which would establish a state-specific map of wildfire risk areas.

Currently, insurance companies rely on national mapping tools that Snider said unfairly classify too many Utah homes as being in high-risk zones.

"There are whole communities in this state considered at risk for wildfire, which really aren’t," Snider said.

Snider said under the current mapping system, about 300,000 Utah residents fall within the wildland-urban interface (WUI) - areas where homes and neighborhoods connect with fire-prone areas.

HB 48 proposes a Utah-based mapping system that could reduce that number to around 70,000, potentially lowering premiums and increasing coverage options for many homeowners.

Snider said for homeowners who do live in a risky wildfire zone, the law, if passed, would allow them to take steps to reduce fire risk on their properties, then give them credit for doing so.

He hopes the legislation will not only lead to fairer insurance pricing but also ensure that homeowners who do live in the WUI can take steps to protect their properties.

"Hopefully, this will alleviate some of the risk for people who aren't in these areas, while ensuring personal accountability for those who are," Snider said.

The new mapping system has been in the works for years, according to Jamie Barnes, director for the Utah Division of Forestry.

MORE on WILDFIRE PROTECTION FOR UTAH HOMES:

• Drier Utah winter prompts warnings to take proactive approach to fire mitigation
• Tooele fire official says homeowners should be preparing now for wildfire season
• Plans in place to keep Davis County fire hydrants from going dry during wildfires
• California wildfire evacuations lead experts in Utah to reassure home fire safety Barnes said while the national maps used by insurance companies to determine risk are very broad, Utah's maps are more detailed as state workers have been on the ground carefully mapping the "fuelscape," or the wildfire risk in neighborhoods and properties.

Insurance Commissioner Jon Pike, who has been monitoring the insurance issues, noted that the recent, devastating fires in Los Angeles will likely impact insurance polices further.

American National Group — which operated under multiple names, including American National Property & Casualty Insurance Company and American National General Insurance Company — stopped writing new policies and renewing existing ones in Utah as of November 2024.

Pike assumes the devastation in Los Angeles will force insurance companies to make more adjustments in cost and coverage.

"I can't project what those rates would be, but I expect we would see increases. I would expect less underwriting, especially in the highest-risk areas," Pike said.

For homeowners like Stephen Holbrook, who has lived in an east bench neighborhood of Salt Lake City for 35 years, finding insurance has already been difficult. His premium recently jumped by $2,000, and after shopping around, he was denied coverage by eight companies who cited wildfire risk.

"They said, 'We'll insure your car, but not your house,'" Holbrook said.

For now, he's forced to pay the high premium with his current insurance company and disagrees with the underwriters who wouldn't offer him coverage.

He'd like lawmakers to step in and define with more certainty which Utah homes are in high-risk wildfire zones.

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