Wildfire-related home insurance cancellations and declinations — refusals to insure applicants — have skyrocketed in pockets of Nevada, and insurance regulators couldn’t give state lawmakers a solid explanation as to why Wednesday.
More fire-prone areas of Nevada, in particular Northern Nevada, saw increases in the number of insurance policies that were canceled and applications that were rejected in the last three years.
ZIP codes in Henderson and Las Vegas have also seen an increase in cancellations and declinations, much to the surprise of state officials, Ned Gaines, the commissioner of insurance for the Nevada Division of Insurance told the interim Committee on Commerce and Labor.
Between the data that was obtained by the division and conversations officials had with other states, Gaines suspects insurance companies are lumping Nevada in with California’s wildfire risk assessments that allows for companies to decline applications…