Wildfires and homeowners insurance: What you need to know

Wildfires can cause significant damage, but most standard home insurance policies typically cover fire, smoke, and ash damage. However, in areas where wildfires are a recurring risk, obtaining home insurance may be more expensive or difficult.

Homeowners insurance is designed to safeguard your home’s structure, personal belongings, and cover additional living expenses if a wildfire forces you to relocate temporarily.

To ensure you’re fully protected, review your replacement cost coverage carefully and discuss wildfire-specific considerations with your insurance agent or representative.

Ready to learn more? Discover everything you need to know about wildfire insurance and the claims process below.

Does home insurance cover wildfires?

Homeowners insurance provides protection against fire damage, including losses caused by wildfires. Several types of coverage within your policy can help address the different aspects of wildfire damage.

Dwelling coverage is the foundation of your policy, protecting the structure of your home, such as walls, roof, floors, and any attached structures like a garage, deck, or porch. This ensures that repairs or rebuilding costs are covered if your home is damaged or destroyed by a wildfire.

Other structures coverage extends protection to items on your property that are not physically attached to your home. This includes structures like sheds, detached garages, fences, gazebos, and even swimming pools, safeguarding these assets from wildfire damage.

Personal property coverage applies to the belongings inside your home. This includes furniture, electronics, clothing, linens, kitchenware, and other personal items. If these are damaged or destroyed in a wildfire, this coverage can help replace them. It’s essential to periodically take inventory of your possessions to ensure you have adequate coverage limits.

Additional living expenses (ALE) coverage helps if a wildfire makes your home uninhabitable. This coverage reimburses costs associated with temporary living arrangements, such as hotel stays, rental homes, restaurant meals, and other necessary expenses while your home is being repaired or rebuilt.

To ensure you are fully protected against wildfire risks, review your policy’s coverage limits and replacement cost provisions. Work closely with your insurance agent to understand what is covered and make any necessary adjustments to your policy to account for your unique needs.

Is smoke and ash damage covered by homeowners insurance?

Yes, home insurance will cover damage caused by smoke and ash to both the structure of your home and your personal property.

If your home gets exposed to smoke and ash, be sure to have the house and your personal items inspected and then cleaned or treated and restored to their original state.

Here is a checklist for how to document smoke damage that will help support your wildfire claim, according to the non-profit consumer advocacy group United Policyholders:

• After documenting your damage, let your insurance company inspect your home, and be sure to take notes on the inspection and document your conversations.
• Be sure to have a thorough inspection done by a qualified person. For instance, it’s ideal to have the inspector be an independent contractor who does not get the majority of his or her business from your insurance company. Also, ask for credentials. That way you’re sure you have trained professionals who are certified or trained in air quality and particulate assessment.
• Consider paying for a qualified inspector to assess your home if your insurer is not willing to pay for an investigation into all damage, including what may be hidden behind drywall and so on. You will want to use a company that has experience testing homes exposed to wildfires that works with Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIH), who test for smoke, soot and char and other contaminants in the air and on surfaces. Field testers conduct swab testing of surfaces inside your home to determine if there are particulates, such as carbon, ash or soot. The air is also captured in a container that can detect off-gassing specific to wildfires. These results are what you would submit to your insurance company. They also determine the type of cleaning and repair methods needed to make your home clean and safe again. The cost is typically between $2,000 to $4,000 for testing, lab work and a written report.

Tips for filing homeowners insurance claims after wildfires

Here’s what to do if you have to file a homeowners insurance claim after a wildfire.

Record damage to all property

Photograph the damage to your home and personal property. Keep all damaged belongings in case an insurance adjuster needs to visit to inspect your property and verify claims.

File a claim immediately

File your claim as soon as possible. To expedite the approval of your claims, begin the process quickly after you discover destruction to your property by contacting your insurance provider. There is a time limit for filing claims so confirm the deadline to file claims with your insurance company before it is too late.

Make temporary repairs

If it’s safe to do so, make any repairs you can to prevent further damage. Cover windows and any holes in the home with tarps or plywood. Be cautious; never enter a home that is not structurally sound after a fire. Wait for officials to clear you to enter the home.

Check the condition of items after they are cleaned

If you believe an item is too far gone to be cleaned up, United Policyholders recommends insisting on a fair replacement value settlement for that item. You can claim the replacement value in addition to the cleaning cost of your belongings that are not in satisfactory condition after they’ve been cleaned.

Tips for dealing with insurance after a wildfire

It’s important to stay on top of your insurance claim after a wildfire and to keep in mind that with widespread damage, the process might be slow. Provide all requested documentation and respond to requests from the insurance company quickly to keep things moving smoothly.

Other tips from the California Department of Insurance:

• Policy provisions, including deductibles, vary by company. Homeowners should check with their insurer or agent as soon as possible to confirm coverage, limits and any other limitations and documentation requirements.
• Consumers should ensure any insurance agent or public adjuster offering their services has a valid license by checking online with the Department of Insurance.
• In California, public adjusters cannot solicit business for seven calendar days after the disaster.
• When leaving your home, don’t forget copies of insurance policies, important papers and a photo or video inventory of your possessions. Keep all receipts accrued during the evacuation. An inventory can be completed quickly and easily on your smartphone and safely stored in the Cloud.

Your vehicle is covered for fire damage under your auto insurance policy if you carry comprehensive coverage. There is no coverage for your car under your home policy, even if it burns while in your garage.

Beware of home repair fraud

Many homeowners who must repair or rebuild following wildfires or other catastrophes have become the unsuspecting victims of home repair fraud.

The industry organization Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) offers these tips to help homeowners avoid becoming victims of fraud.

• Don’t be rushed into signing a contract with any company. Instead, collect business cards and get written estimates for the proposed job to compare companies and review your options.
• Beware of contractors who encourage you to spend a lot of money on temporary repairs. Payments for temporary repairs are covered as part of the total settlement. If you pay a contractor a large sum for a temporary fix, you might not have enough money for permanent repairs. Remember to keep repair receipts. Your insurer will reimburse you for these costs.
• Investigate the track record of any roofer, builder or contractor you consider hiring. Look for professionals with solid reputations. Get references.
• Never give anyone a deposit until after you have thoroughly researched his background.

In addition, you should beware of a common fraud scheme in which a “contractor” convinces you to shell out a large deposit before beginning work. Frequently, the job is started, but not completed. Before hiring a home repair contractor, investigate the credentials, background and testimonials of the previous work of the contractor.

Many areas require contractors to be licensed; check with your state’s contractors licensing board to verify that someone is licensed before you hire him or her.

Fire protection: How to protect your home from wildfires

Homeowners who live in areas susceptible to wildfires can take steps to reduce the risk of damage.

Here’s what you can do to guard against wildfires and prevent damage to your home:

• Prepare a defensible space of at least 30 feet around your home by clearing away the flammable vegetation and other combustible materials.
• Replace native plants with fire-resistant landscaping. Consult your local nursery for the fire-safe plants that grow best in your region.
• Space trees and shrubs at least 10 feet apart.
• Remove branches within 10 feet of chimneys and roofs.
• Cover the chimney with a non-flammable screen of one-half-inch or smaller mesh.
• Remove dead vegetation, leaves and other debris from roofs and gutters.
• Stack firewood far away from anything combustible, including fences and outbuildings.
• If you have a swimming pool, be prepared to use it as a fire-fighting tool by purchasing a pool pump.
• Deadwood and dying trees should be removed.
• Inventory all of your belongings and store the list in a safe place away from your home in the event fire strikes.
• Prepare a family evacuation plan.

Wildfires can destroy neighborhoods and homes, but by taking precautions, you might be able to reduce the damage or even save your home.

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