Wildfire coverage for Montana homes is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain as insurance companies across the country reduce their exposure to natural disaster claims.
Homeowners in Missoula and other parts of Montana have experienced policy non-renewals, premium increases, and reduced levels of coverage, according to industry officials and local emergency services. Montana may be trailing behind other states that have faced significant losses from tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods in terms of 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.
“The impacts on Montana are likely just beginning,” said Adrian Beck, Director of Missoula County’s Emergency Management Office. “A few individuals in the Missoula area have already lost coverage.”
This will emphasize the need for residents to protect their properties through fire-resistant measures. Headwaters Economics, based in Bozeman, released a detailed guide for addressing urban wildfire risk in May.
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According to a 2024 analysis by the Consumer Federation of America, nearly one in ten homeowners in Montana do not have insurance on their homes. Nationally, the percentages are even higher for owners of manufactured homes (35%) and those who inherited their homes (29%). This analysis does not include under-insured individuals whose policies may not cover the cost of rebuilding.
“We also anticipate an increase in the number of uninsured homeowners since 2021, due to insurance companies pulling out of states and homeowners facing significant rate hikes,” noted the authors of the CFA report. The analysis did not consider 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.
