What Washington homeowners should know

The Office of the Insurance Commissioner closely monitors the insurance market in Washington state and has tips for homeowners concerned about fire danger.

Regularly check your coverage. Talk with your agent or insurance company to make sure you have enough coverage, in a worst-case scenario, to fully cover rebuilding your home and replacing your property. (Most of the homeowners who filed claims after the Gray and Oregon Road fires in 2023 were underinsured.) It’s also worth considering reviewing additional living expense coverage (which covers the extra expenses involved in living in temporary housing while your home is repaired) to make sure you have enough time to fully rebuild a home if necessary and extended replacement loss coverage (which helps repair a home after a covered loss when the cost of labor and materials has increased) when reviewing your policy.

Your insurance company can cancel your home policy, but it must provide you with a:

• 45-day advance written notice to cancel or non-renew your policy. (This changes to 60 days in July 2025.)
• 10-day advance written notice if you didn’t pay your premiums on time.
• Clear explanation of why it cancelled or non-renewed your policy.

Several major risks aren’t covered under standard home policies. That includes earthquakes, floods, landslides and volcanoes. You’ll need additional coverage for protection from those events.

Previous fire information from the OIC

• What does your homeowners policy cover in a fire? This blog covers questions that arose after the Gray and Oregon Road fires in the summer of 2023.
• More tips and advice for people impacted by wildfires: This blog offers additional advice for wildfire victims, with information from a staff insurance expert who helped in a Disaster Assistance Center in Spokane in September of 2023.
• What you can expect from your insurance company: This blog reviews the set of expectations for communications standards between insurance companies and policyholders.
• Wildfire Awareness Month is as important as ever: This entry covers how to prepare your home from fires on an individual, community and state level.
• The OIC’s Wildfire Symposium: This video series includes interviews with Department of Natural Resources staff, risk assessment firm experts, reinsurance experts and the mayor of a town recovering from a significant wildfire.
• Myths, facts and questions about wildfire premium discounts: Insurance companies in some states offer wildfire premium discounts. This entry covers what those discounts are and how an insurance company can meet the state requirements to offer them.

The Office of the Insurance Commissioner offers additional tips for filing a claim after a natural disaster and information for homeowners about wildfires and their insurance.