In 2021, the Oregon Legislature passed a law requiring the Oregon Department of Forestry to develop a statewide wildfire risk map, as part of a broader effort to address wildfire risk in Oregon. The purpose of this map was to plan for wildfire response and to inform the public about wildfire risk. Currently the map has been temporarily withdrawn for further refinement.
Insurers have not and did not use the statewide wildfire risk map released in 2022. Insurance companies are also expressly prohibited from using the statewide wildfire risk map to affect insurance access and premium costs.
When concerns around the statewide wildfire risk map affecting insurance arose, the Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) immediately undertook a formal inquiry to determine whether this was happening. DFR saw no evidence that any insurer was using the statewide wildfire risk map to set premiums, cancel policies, or refuse to renew policies, neither was any insurer planning to do so. Insurance companies confirmed that they have set premiums and decided whether to cover homes without using the statewide wildfire risk map developed by the State of Oregon.
To ensure that the wildfire risk map would not be used in this way in the future, DFR worked with the Legislature in 2023 to pass a law that explicitly prohibits any insurance company from using any wildfire risk map published by the State of Oregon as a basis for increasing insurance premiums, canceling a policy, or refusing to renew a homeowners policy. Senate Bill 82 makes it against the law for any insurance company to use any state-published wildfire risk map for any of these purposes.
If your agent or insurance company tells you that your premium has increased or that your policy has been dropped because of the statewide wildfire risk map, you can contact the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation's consumer advocacy team at 888-877-4894 (toll-free) or file a complaint online at dfr.oregon.gov.
For more information on the state wildfire map, visit
https://www.oregon.gov/odf/fire/pages/wildfire-hazard.aspx or
https://osuwildfireriskmap.forestry.oregonstate.edu/
For more information on homeowners insurance premium increases or cancellations visit the
homeowners insurance premium increases or cancellations page.