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SB-72 Property insurance: wildfire risk information reporting.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 06/28/2021 10:00 AM
SB72:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 28, 2021
Amended  IN  Senate  March 10, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 72

Introduced by Senator Rubio

December 10, 2020

An act to add Section 929.4 to, and to add and repeal Section 10100.4 of, the Insurance Code, relating to insurance.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 72, as amended, Rubio. Property insurance: wildfire risk information reporting.
Existing law establishes the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, which regulates insurers and insurance practices. Existing law requires an admitted insurer with written California premiums totaling $10,000,000 or more, on or before April 1, 2020, and every 2 years thereafter, as specified, to submit a report to the commissioner with specified fire risk information on its residential property policies, and subjects an admitted insurer that willfully fails to submit a report to a prescribed civil penalty. Existing law requires the commissioner to post to the department’s internet website a report on wildfire risk compiled from the collected fire risk information.
Existing law establishes in state government the Natural Resources Agency under the supervision of the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, consisting of various departments, including the Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention, Protection, which is responsible for the fire protection, fire prevention, maintenance, and enhancement of the state’s forest, range, and brushland resources, among other things.
On or before November 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, this bill would require the commissioner to transmit to the secretary of the agency a report that makes geographic recommendations for vegetation management projects based on the commissioner’s analysis of specified information, including nonrenewal data on policies of residential property insurance, and to post that report on the Department of Insurance’s internet website.
Under existing law, the California FAIR Plan Association, also known as the facility, is a joint reinsurance association in which all insurers licensed to write basic property insurance participate in administering a program for the equitable apportionment of basic property insurance for persons who are unable to obtain that coverage through normal channels.
This bill would require the facility to contract with a provider of risk management and modeling services to conduct a study on how concentration risks affect the FAIR Plan’s policies in high fire risk areas, as specified. The bill would require the facility to submit the report to the Department of Insurance, the Natural Resources Agency, and the Legislature the Senate Committee on Insurance, and the Assembly Committee on Insurance on or before December 31, 2022.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 929.4 is added to the Insurance Code, to read:

929.4.
 On or before November 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall do both of the following:
(a) Transmit to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency a report that makes geographic recommendations for vegetation management projects based on the commissioner’s analysis of nonrenewal data on policies of residential property insurance and the perceived risks of the industry.
(b) Post the report described under subdivision (a) on the department’s internet website.

SEC. 2.

 Section 10100.4 is added to the Insurance Code, to read:

10100.4.
 (a) The facility shall contract with a provider of risk management and modeling services to conduct a study on how concentration risks affect the FAIR Plan’s policies in high fire risk areas. The study shall focus on areas of the state in which the FAIR Plan does significant business to identify the cities, counties, or regions of the state in which neighborhood character, lack of local firefighting resources, and housing construction, age, location, and materials create the highest risk for loss, increase premium costs, and contribute most to reinsurance costs.
(b) On or before December 31, 2022, the facility shall submit the report prepared pursuant to subdivision (a) to the department, the Natural Resources Agency, and the Legislature. the Senate Committee on Insurance, and the Assembly Committee on Insurance. The plan submitted to the Legislature shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.