Insurance companies nationwide are reducing their exposure to natural disaster payouts, making wildfire coverage for Montana homes increasingly difficult to obtain.
Homeowners in Missoula and other parts of Montana are experiencing non-renewals of insurance policies, increased premiums, and decreased levels of potential reimbursement. Officials in the industry and local government emergency services have observed this trend. Compared to other states that have suffered major losses from tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods, Montana might be slightly delayed in experiencing insurance broker pull-outs.
Wildland firefighters complete a prescribed burn on the Bitterroot National Forest in May intended to reduce fuels on 5,300 acres of the Wildland Urban Interface. As homeowner insurance availability grows more expensive and hard to get, property owners are turning to wildfire-resilient preparations to keep their buildings safe. Â
Missoula County’s Emergency Management Office director, Adrian Beck, anticipates that the impact of insurance companies pulling out of Montana will start becoming evident soon. Some individuals in the Missoula area have already lost coverage, signaling a need for residents to protect their properties through fire-wise defensive measures.
Residents are encouraged to follow fire-resilient practices as insurance coverage becomes scarcer. Bozeman-based Headwaters Economics has released a comprehensive guide for addressing urban wildfire risk.
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A 2024 analysis by the Consumer Federation of America revealed that almost one in ten homeowners in Montana do not have insurance coverage for their homes. The report also highlighted a higher percentage of uninsured owners for manufactured homes and those who inherited their homes. Additionally, it emphasized the issue of under-insured individuals whose policies may not provide sufficient coverage for rebuilding costs.
The CFA report authors indicated an increase in the number of uninsured homeowners in 2021, attributing it to insurance companies exiting states and imposing double-digit rate hikes. The analysis did not include specialized earthquake and flood policies.
A helicopter drops water on the Triple L fire, a fast-moving brush fire in Lolo that burned multiple structures in July 2023.
In 2022, Gardiner and Red Lodge in Montana faced extensive damage from a sudden June rainstorm, resulting in toppled homes and damaged roadbeds near Yellowstone National Park. Last summer, the town of Paradise lost at least 50 structures, including 16 homes, to a wildfire that engulfed 12,000 acres in under 12 hours.
These incidents highlight the high wildfire risk in the United States, with over 115 million people — one-third of the population — residing in counties prone to wildfires. Montana ranks among
