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During a public investigatory hearing with California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on July 13, California Outdoor Hospitality President and CEO Dyana Kelley, addressed her concerns about the dire toll the current state of CA’s insurance industry is taking on private park and campground owners.
Wildfires have always been a risk for large areas of California, however in the drought stricken recent history, that risk increases year after year. Unfortunately, along side that escalating risk, Californian’s have seen more than their fair share of rising costs, which as it turns out, pose an even greater risk to our parks and the tourism industry as a whole. Several insurance carriers have chosen to exit the California market in recent years, sending residence and business owners scrambling for an alternative policy, many finding that the FAIR plan was their only option.
The intention of the California FAIR Plan Association is to provide insurance to those who have been unable to secure a policy through traditional carriers, however the complaints concerning the affordability, coverage, and navigability of the FAIR Plan process have left those with no other option frustrated and feeling defeated.
As insurance rates are rising, the level of coverage policies offer is decreasing, and no longer sufficient for the types of coverage needed to confidently operate these businesses. During the hearing Kelley stated “As an industry, we are being tasked with expansion. We have more camping consumers than we have accommodations. Yet, one of the greatest barriers to entry into our industry is the ability to obtain insurance with appropriate coverage at reasonable rates”. To address this problem, Kelley went on to say that “If park operators are not able to obtain reasonable insurance coverage through standard carriers, then expanded coverage under the FAIR Plan needs to be considered. We would also recommend providing rebates or rate decreases for fire abatement strategies.”
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