Chat
Chat with Sales Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (CST)
Contact Sales
Call Sales Toll-Free 1-(866) 774-3282 Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. (CST)
Product Login
Product Log-in
Product Support
Product Support
Email Sales
Contact Sales
After Hours
  • Support
  • Sign In Sign In
  • AUS NZ UK
CoreLogic - Home
  • Solutions
    view solutions by:

    Data Solutions

    • Lead Generation
    • Property Data
    • Location Intelligence

    Real Estate

    • Multiple Listing Enterprise
    • Agent & Broker

    Mortgage

    • Origination
    • Servicing
    • Appraisal
    • Commercial Property Tax

    Insurance

    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management
    • Risk Evaluation
    • Underwriting Automation
    • Weather
    • Claims Automation
    • Restoration
    • INTRCONNECT

    Mortgage Lenders

    • Origination

    Mortgage Servicers

    • Residential Property Tax
    • Default & Loss Mitigation
    • Portfolio Insight & Monitoring

    Mortgage Appraisers

    • Appraisal

    Real Estate Agents & Brokers

    • Agents & Brokers

    Real Estate MLS

    • Multiple Listing Enterprises

    Commercial Real Estate Owners

    • Commercial Property Tax

    Marketing Departments

    • Property Data

    Insurance Underwriters

    • Risk Evaluation
    • Underwriting Automation
    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management

    Insurance Risk Managers

    • Risk Evaluation
    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management

    Insurance Claims

    • Claims Automation
    • Restoration Contractors
    • Weather Verification

    Construction Contractors

    • Restoration Contractors

    General

    • Location Intelligence
    • Lead Generation
    • Data Solutions
  • Resources

    Reports

    • Climate Change
    • Construction Cost Update
    • Construction Insights
    • Home Price Insights
    • Homeowner Equity Insights
    • Loan Performance Insight
    • Mortgage Fraud
    • Property Tax Delinquency
    • Single-Family Rent Index

    Insight Blogs

    • Hazard HQ
    • Office of Chief Economist
    • Affordable Housing
    • Homebuying
    • Insurance
    • Other Articles

    More Resources

    • Events
    • Case Studies
    • White Papers
    • Podcasts
    • Quick Takes
  • Company
    • About
    • Leadership
    • Newsroom
    • Contact
    • Careers
  • Search
CoreLogic - Home
  • Solutions
  • Resources
  • Company

    • About
    • Leadership
    • Newsroom
    • Contact
    • Careers
  • Accounts

    • Products Sign-in
  • Contact

    • Sales Contact
    • Product Support
  • Regions

    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • United Kingdom
  • Social

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Linkedin
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
Solutions
VIEW BY:
  • Data Solutions

    • Lead Generation
    • Property Data
    • Location Intelligence
  • Real Estate

    • Multiple Listing Enterprise
    • Agent & Broker
  • Mortgage

    • Origination
    • Servicing
    • Appraisal
    • Commercial Property Tax
  • Insurance

    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management
    • Risk Evaluation
    • Underwriting Automation
    • Weather
    • Claims Automation
    • Restoration
    • INTRCONNECT
  • Mortgage Lenders

    • Origination
  • Mortgage Servicers

    • Residential Property Tax
    • Default & Loss Mitigation
    • Portfolio Insight & Monitoring
  • Mortgage Appraisers

    • Appraisal
  • Real Estate Agents & Brokers

    • Agents & Brokers
  • Real Estate MLS

    • Multiple Listing Enterprises
  • Commercial Real Estate Owners

    • Commercial Property Tax
  • Marketing Departments

    • Property Data
  • Insurance Underwriters

    • Risk Evaluation
    • Underwriting Automation
    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management
  • Insurance Risk Managers

    • Risk Evaluation
    • Hazard Risk
    • Catastrophe Risk Management
  • Insurance Claims

    • Claims Automation
    • Restoration Contractors
    • Weather Verification
  • Construction Contractors

    • Restoration Contractors
  • General

    • Location Intelligence
    • Lead Generation
    • Data Solutions
Resources
  • Reports

    • Climate Change
    • Construction Cost Update
    • Construction Insights
    • Home Price Insights
    • Homeowner Equity Insights
    • Loan Performance Insight
    • Mortgage Fraud
    • Property Tax Delinquency
    • Single-Family Rent Index
  • Insight Blogs

    • Hazard HQ
    • Office of Chief Economist
    • Affordable Housing
    • Homebuying
    • Insurance
    • Other Articles
  • More Resources

    • Events
    • Case Studies
    • White Papers
    • Podcasts
    • Quick Takes

Home / Intelligence / Key Insights into the New Wildfire Risk Assessment for California Property Owners

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hazard HQ Team
Hazard HQ Team
View Profile
  • February 10, 2023

Key Insights into the New Wildfire Risk Assessment for California Property Owners

Already, there have been over 100 fires in California in 2023

“Fire” is a loaded word. Yell it and people will immediately exit a building; property owners will worry about the future of their brick-and-mortar investment; and insurers will begin forecasting for claims they will see on the property and the resulting adjustments they will need to make to premiums.

Multiply this scenario by a factor of several hundred in a state like California, which leads the nation in wildfires, and it is quickly apparent why having comprehensive insight into the risk of wildfires is imperative to mitigating damages and accelerating restoration efforts.

The power of having advanced knowledge of risk is only amplified when it is paired with insight into the mitigation efforts that are becoming increasingly necessary — and even required — throughout the state.

To encourage resilience and mitigation, California is the first state to implement industry-changing legislation. The California Department of Insurance (CDI) will require insurers to offer discounts to property owners who implement wildfire safety and mitigation measures outlined in the state’s Safer From Wildfires guidelines. 

However, providing property insurance in an environment where wildfire season is now a year-round affair is a challenge. In the past three years alone, CoreLogic data shows that wildfires have destroyed more than 25,000 homes across the United States, totaling up to $20 billion in damage.

A Solution for California Carriers: Wildfire Mitigation Score

To simplify the process of creating new rating systems and policy pricing structures that adhere to the CDI’s requirements for compliance, CoreLogic established the Wildfire Mitigation Score – a comprehensive risk scoring system that evaluates a property based on the wildfire mitigation actions taken by owners. In the report, we cover:

  1. How the Wildfire Mitigation Score simplifies the process of establishing CDI-compliant rating systems;
  2. The data and technology behind the Wildfire Mitigation Score that ensures its accuracy and enables greater risk differentiation;
  3. How insurance carriers can provide policies that better protect both their own business and their policyholders.
DOWNLOAD THE INFOGRAPHIC ON WILDLIFE MITIGATION SCORING

California Still Has the Highest Risk for Wildfire Damage

About 40 million people called the Golden State home as of the 2020 census, and as the nation’s most populous, it also has the largest number of structures. As such, California remains the state most at risk for property damage from wildfires, with CoreLogic’s 2022 Wildfire Risk Report estimating that more than 1.2 million single-family homes are vulnerable.

A prolonged drought and high winds are largely to blame for California’s wildfires over the past six years. The November 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County was even more catastrophic than the Tubbs Fire, burning more than 150,000 acres and impacting 18,800 structures, making it the most destructive in state history. In 2021, the Dixie Fire in Northern California burned across five counties for several months, ultimately charring almost 1 million acres and damaging or destroying more than 1,300 structures.

The year 2022 saw nearly 7,700 wildfires spark in California, according to CAL FIRE data, with new ones igniting virtually every day. Last year, California wildfires consumed about 364,000 acres, damaging or destroying almost 900 structures.

The atmospheric river and bomb cyclone that hit areas of the West Coast starting in December 2022 and continuing into January 2023 may help lessen wildfire-related damages in California in the coming year. However, intense and prolonged amounts of rain after a lengthy drought create other risks for property owners, including flooding and mudslides. Structures that are situated downslope from past wildfire burn scars are particularly vulnerable to mudslides and debris.

How Can Property Owners Mitigate their Wildfire Risk?

The acres that burn aren’t only damaging to structures. They also damaging to communities, families and lives. To help stop fanning the flames of wildfire risk, there are 12 steps that homeowners can take to harden their homes, according to California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.

  1. Joining an NFPA Firewise community
  2. Living in a CA BOF FRRC community
  3. Remove vegetation and debris from underdecks
  4. Clearing Zone 0 (0-5ft) of both living and combustible material
  5. Having no combustible attachments
  6. Removing all combustible structures within 30 feet of the primary building
  7. Complying with PRC 4291 or local ordinance inspection
  8. Having a Class A Fire-Rated Roof
  9. Enclosing eaves
  10. Installing ember or flame-resistant vents
  11.  Installing dual pane windows or functional shutters
  12. Maintaining a minimum of six inches of noncombustible clearance from the ground up around the perimeter of the home

However, while homeowners who take these steps may be entitled to a reduction in their insurance premiums, home hardening is not a guarantee that homeowners can avoid reconstruction costs in the event of a wildfire.

Reconstruction Costs Are Rising

Homeowners who suffer wildfire damage often face a long and expensive road to recovery, and recent inflation is bound to add even more headaches.

The cost of reconstruction materials such as slab doors, asphalt shingles and felt have been increasing since the beginning of the year in the U.S. Notably, the cost of PVC piping rose by almost 50% since January 2022. A shortage of skilled construction laborers is also driving up reconstruction bills, with wages up by as much as 2.6% for some industry professionals between January and August of 2022.

Higher labor and materials prices have led to rapid growth in overall U.S. home reconstruction costs, which increased by an average of 4.1% from the second to third quarter of this year.

CoreLogic’s proprietary risk-modeling capabilities and teams of hazard experts and data scientists provide highly accurate insights into current and future wildfire risks, as well as the best strategies for mitigating them. Besides the 2022 Wildfire Risk Report, the September 2022 Webinar “Fire on the Horizon” offers additional information and commentary on wildfire trends. To keep up to date with ongoing coverage of natural catastrophes and their impact on the housing ecosystem, visit CoreLogic’s Hazard HQ blog.

© 2022 CoreLogic,Inc., All rights reserved.
  • Category: Blogs, Intelligence, Other Articles
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hazard HQ Team
Hazard HQ Team
View Profile

Related Posts

mississippi tornadoes
Blogs

March 24 EF-4 Tornado in Mississippi

CoreLogic estimates over 4,100 homes were within the path of the tornado that hit Mississippi on March 24, 2023.

March 29, 2023
California Atmospheric Rivers
Core Conversations

What Was it Really Like to Live Through the California Floods? Our Team Spills | Part 2

In Part 2, host Maiclaire Bolton Smith talks about the atmospheric rivers and the snow that has made headlines and headway in altering California’s natural hazard landscape.

March 29, 2023
CSI_Promo_Mar2023
Blogs

US CoreLogic S&P Case-Shiller Index Gain Slows to Pre-Pandemic Low, Up by 3.8% Year Over Year in January

The index continued to decline year over year in January, again posting a single-digit gain.

March 28, 2023

About Corelogic

  • Newsroom
  • Leadership
  • Careers
  • Ethics & Compliance

Accounts

  • Products Sign-in

Contact

  • Sales Contact
  • Product Support

Regions

  • CoreLogic Australia
  • CoreLogic New Zealand
  • CoreLogic UK

Follow & Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
© 2023 CoreLogic. All rights reserved.
  • Legal
  • Privacy Policy
  • CCPA
  • Cookie Preferences
  • Security
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Legal
  • Privacy Policy
  • CCPA
  • Cookie Preferences
  • Security
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility