Oregon Issues Bulletin Outlining Insurer Expectations Following 2020 Labor Day Wildfire

Oregon Issues Bulletin Outlining Insurer Expectations Following 2020 Labor Day Wildfire

On August 4, 2022, the Oregon Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) issued Bulletin No. DFR 2022-3 to all property and casualty insurers that write homeowners policies that have time limits in their policies for rebuilding or replacement of contents of less than three years.

Bulletin No. DFR 2022-3 clarifies the DFR’s expectations for insurers with respect to claims by Oregon homeowners rebuilding after suffering losses in the 2020 Labor Day wildfire disaster and provides certainty to affected consumers for the purpose of rebuilding from the losses. For any active claims as of the issuance date of the Bulletin, the DFR expects insurers to:

  • Extend the rebuilding time limit and/or content replacement time limit in the insured’s policy up to September 30, 2023, if an insured acting in good faith and with reasonable diligence encounters a delay or delays in the reconstruction process that are the result of circumstances beyond the control of the insured; or
  • Follow the provisions of the Bulletin for communicating why the rebuild time limit has not been extended.

Insurers are also directed to communicate with their policyholders with active claims from the September 2020 wildfires in writing no later than August 30, 2022 with their decision as to whether policyholders will be given until September 30, 2023 or a future date certain to complete their rebuilding efforts or replace contents.

For any policyholder not being granted until September 30, 2023, the DFR directs insurers to provide the DFR with the following information regarding the active claims beginning September 1, 2022 and continuing every 60 days until otherwise directed:

  • The claims chart as identified in Appendix I of the Bulletin; and
  • The insurer’s explanation regarding the decision not to extend the rebuilding and/or replacement timeline through September 30, 2023.

 

Link to Bulletin No. DFR 2022-3

Link to Appendix I: Claims Chart