SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. – Insurance companies are either raising rates or not renewing coverage for survivors of the Gray and Oregon Road fires that tore through the Medical Lake and Elk communities on August 18.
The two fires destroyed a combined total of more than 20,000 acres, more than 350 homes and killed two people.
Many fire survivors have started the rebuilding process, but are facing several hurdles in their long road to recovery, including with their insurance companies, as first reported by NonStop Local KHQ’s news partners the Spokesman-Review.
One of those survivors is Sheryl Green, who’s home located about two miles from where the Oregon Road Fire started was completely destroyed.
“We lost everything,” Green said. “When you live out there in the woods, every time there’s a fire you think about it, but I just didn’t think it was going to happen.
She reached out to her insurance company in the wake of the fire, Grange Insurance Association, who she says was initially helpful.
“It all sounded great on paper: ‘yay we’re going to help you build a house!'” Green said. “We’re eight months out, and I still don’t have a house started.”
Then, early last month, Green received a letter from her insurance company saying they will not be renewing her policy, effective on May 5.
“Let’s just add insult to injury,” Green said. “I’m living in a 26-foot travel trailer with four dogs, a duck and a husband, and the insurance company says they’re canceling.”
“This is a cataclysmic problem that we’re having in Spokane County, and I’m very concerned about it,” Gerri Johnson said.
Johnson is president of ReImagine Medical Lake, a non-profit that’s been working on disaster support for folks impacted by the Gray Fire.
“One individual came in and said, ‘you know Gerri, I’m going to be good. I’ve got great insurance, we’re gonna be great,'” Johnson said. “They came back to me and said, ‘actually, we’re not going to be good, we’re horribly underinsured.'”
Both Johnson and Green think those actions taken by insurance companies warrants state action to hold them accountable.
“You’re a business, you provide a service to people. That service is to help cover them when they have a loss,” Green said. “So if you’re the company that just thinks that as long as there’s no loss you’re going to take those payments every year that come in, then say ‘oh I’m sorry you’ve had a loss, we’re going to cancel you,’ why are you even in this business?”
“We can understand, it certainly feels like a bit of a betrayal,” said Aaron VanTyul, a spokesperson with the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. “You’ve had no issues for years–or decades in some cases–you get a notice in the mail and it feels like you’ve been abandoned and hung out to dry a little bit.”
Despite that, VanTyul said there’s not much else they can do.
“Unfortunately there’s no legal mechanism preventing a company from not renewing somebody, as long as they have a reason to do so, and can provide that reason to the policyholder,” VanTyul said.
Right now, insurance companies are required by state law to provide a non-renewal notice and a reason to a policyholder at least 45 days before the policy expires. An adjustment to that state law signed this past legislative session extends that window to 60 days, but takes effect July 1, 2025.
In Green’s case, Grange Insurance Association let her know on March 7 that her policy would expire 60 days later on May 5. The company’s reason: the loss of her home on August 19, 2023.
NonStop Local KHQ reached out to Grange Insurance Association to get more insight into what went into their decision to not renew Green’s policy.
Kenton Brine, president of the Northwest Insurance Council–a non-profit association of insurers, of which Grange is a member–returned the call.
He wasn’t able to speak specifically about Green’s case, but said non-renewals are happening more frequently due to increasing wildfire risk throughout the American West, and increasing construction costs to rebuild destroyed property.
“In order to retain their ability to be solvent, as well as profitable, companies are having to make some changes,” Brine said. “Unfortunately for consumers, that has meant some non-renewals, particularly for people who have actually suffered a loss.”
Brine said even if an insurer non-renews a policy, they’re still on the hook to cover a loss claim by a policyholder that was filed prior to the policy’s expiration.
“What is difficult for the policyholder, is that a lot of the folks who suffered those losses were underinsured, and that’s a critical problem across the United States right now,” Brine said.
People on all sides of the issue urge homeowners to check their policies when it comes time to renew, and make sure everything is covered to keep up with rising costs.
They also encourage homeowners to shop around, read about different companies and talk to a local insurance agent, which is what happened with Sheryl Green.
Green said a local insurance agent heard about her story, and reached out offering to help. She said she now has rebuild insurance, which will transition to a new homeowners policy once her new house is completed.
For more information and resources when dealing with insurance companies and claims, visit the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner’s website by clicking here.
