According to the NOAA, in 2021, there were 58,733 wildfires in the United States, which burned over 7 million acres. As you can imagine, increasing wildfire risk has caused premiums to skyrocket for many homeowners in wildfire-prone areas. The problem has become serious enough that in October, the California Department of Insurance mandated discounts for insureds who engage in wildfire risk mitigation.

As climate change continues to drive wildfire issues, we're seeing a shift in the wildfire insurance marketplace, with many insureds in wildfire-prone areas turning to the Excess and Surplus (E&S) market to combat rising premiums.

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Brittney Meredith-Miller

Brittney Meredith-Miller is assistant editor of PropertyCasualty360.com. She can be reached at [email protected].