Growing wildfire risk leaves states grappling with how to keep property insurers from fleeing

abcnews.go.com:

Months after a catastrophic fire burned more than 2,200 homes and killed 101 people in Hawaii, some property owners are getting more bad news — their property insurance won’t be renewed because their insurance company has deemed the risk too high

BOISE, Idaho — Months after a catastrophic fire burned more than 2,200 homes in Hawaii, some property owners are getting more bad news — their property insurance won't be renewed because their insurance company has deemed the risk too high.

It's a problem that has played out in states across the U.S. as climate change and increasing development has raised the risks of wildfires and other natural disasters damaging communities. Insurance providers, state regulators and researchers are grappling with how to keep the insurance companies in business while keeping residents and their properties insured and protected.

“I think most of the insurers, you know, I’m very grateful that they’re committed to the Hawaii market, so we haven’t seen wholesale withdrawals,” after the Aug. 8, 2023 fire burned through Lahaina and killed 101 people, Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito said during a Wildfire Risk Forum for insurance commissioners held at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

But one or two insurance companies have stopped renewing policies for wood structures like townhomes that are in wildfire risk areas, Ito said Monday, in part because the companies have seen their own insurance costs climb. Property insurers typically have their own insurance coverage to help when there are big payouts, like the roughly $3 billion in claims that have been paid so far on an estimated $6 billion in damages from the Lahaina fire. But those “reinsurance” rates are climbing,