If you own a home in Incline Village, your insurance world just changed in a big way. A new Nevada law lets insurers strip wildfire coverage out of standard homeowners and HOA policies and sell it separately instead, a shift that could leave some residents paying more or, in the worst case, with no wildfire protection at all. In Lake Tahoe’s priciest neighborhoods, where carriers have already been pulling back, brokers and consumer advocates say the market may only get rougher.
What the new law actually does
Assembly Bill 376 sets up a time-limited Regulatory Experimentation Program and explicitly allows property insurers to exclude the peril of wildfire from a homeowners policy, then offer wildfire-only or supplemental policies instead. The law also creates a flex-rated filing process meant to let qualifying carriers test limited rate changes while the sandbox is running. The measure took effect Jan. 1, 2026, according to the Nevada Legislature.
Local reaction: brokers vs. consumer advocates
Incline Village insurance brokers argue the change could lure carriers back into areas they abandoned, while consumer advocates counter that it may hollow out coverage. Ron Wright, a senior partner at Alera Group in Incline, told SFGATE he hopes the law will persuade major insurers to return and noted he has been selling supplemental wildfire policies “well before legislation came out.” Michael DeLong of the Consumer Federation of America warned the carve-out could force homeowners to juggle two expensive policies or, worse, not realize wildfire coverage had been removed from their base policy.
Already-tight market: cancellations and declinations
The squeeze on coverage is already visible in the numbers. The Nevada Independent reported that in 2022, about 264 homeowners had policies canceled because of wildfire threat and more than 2,400 applications were declined; in 2023, cancellations rose to 481 and nearly 5,000 applications were declined. Regulators and agents say northern Nevada communities, including parts of the Tahoe basin, have felt the pressure most.
Where high-end buyers are turning
Some ultrawealthy homeowners are opting to self-insure, drop wildfire from their policies altogether, or buy coverage through surplus markets and specialty underwriters. Brokers point to markets such as Lloyd’s of London, but even those specialty players have been hit hard. Lloyd’s estimated roughly $2.3 billion in net losses from the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, highlighting the strain on reinsurance capacity, as reported by Business Insurance.
What homeowners should check now
Start with your declarations page. Homeowners are being urged to confirm in writing whether wildfire coverage is included, excluded, or only available as an add-on, and to check what deductibles and limits apply. Anyone with a mortgage should also verify with their lender that any new setup still meets loan requirements. If you have invested in mitigation or home hardening, document it, since insurers often use those measures when pricing or approving coverage. Consumer groups such as United Policyholders note that separate peril policies can come with their own rules, claims processes and higher costs.
Mortgage and legal risks
Consumer advocates warn that homeowners who go without wildfire coverage will be on the hook for repairs or rebuilding if a blaze hits, and that carved-out coverage could complicate compliance with mortgage servicers’ insurance requirements. Regulators have added some guardrails, including a requirement that any carve-out an insurer uses must apply statewide, but advocates say the changes could still leave many households exposed, as detailed by The Nevada Independent.
The sandbox is explicitly temporary and regulators must report back on how the experiment plays out, so the market could shift again before 2030. For now, homeowners in Incline Village and across Nevada are being urged to double-check policies, talk with agents and lenders, and document mitigation work while carriers test new products under the state’s updated rules, according to the Nevada Legislature.
