By ELLEN WALTON
White Rock
A Notice of Non-Renewal for my homeowner’s policy arrived in my mailbox just in time for Earth Day as a stark reminder that the climate change will ultimately affect all of us. Farmers Insurance stated that they “considered the potential exposure of the insured property to natural and/or catastrophic losses from wildfire in making this determination”, and that my “property exceeds our desired risk threshold.”
These notices, according to our local agent, started arriving in homeowner mailboxes this February and include seemingly random pockets of housing in Los Alamos County and the Española Valley. The agency is working diligently to find their clients alternative coverage. In the meantime, I will be writing a letter of protest to Farmers Insurance Group Customer Service, our County Council, our New Mexico Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, the Office of the Governor, our Congressional Delegation, our State Representatives, and LANL’s Director to raise awareness of the issues many are grappling with, and to find out why our area is considered to be at such high risk even with our County’s enhanced Building and Safety Code, the extensive fire protection of LANL and Los Alamos County, extensive thinning and controlled burning efforts by land management agencies, a safety perimeter around our house, and our extensive and expensive remodel with fire resistant exterior claddings, roofing and soffit ventilation as now required by code.
I encourage those who are affected by non-renewals and those who are concerned for our diverse LANL communities to do the same. We need to act as one community to address this basic issue of housing costs and fire protection.
- Farmers Insurance Group Customer Service, 6301 Owensmouth Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
- Office of Superintendent of Insurance PO Box 1689 Santa Fe, NM 87504-1689
- Office of the Governor, 490 Old Santa Fe Trail Room 400, Santa Fe, NM 87501
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545
- Los Alamos County Council, c/o Kelley Harvey, 1000 Central Ave., Suite 350 Los Alamos, NM 87544; countycouncil@lacnm.us
- Sen. Leo Jaramillo, P.O. Box 1014, Española NM 87532; leo.jaramillo@nmlegis.gov
- Rep. Christine Chandler, P.O. Box 1565, Los Alamos NM 87544; christine.chandler@nmlegis.gov