As of November 2020, there were 9,279 wildfires in California. These incidents were responsible for 4.2 million acres burned, 31 fatalities and over 10,000 structures damaged or destroyed. According to Cal Fire, significant fire potential remained above normal across Southern California through December. Even before the devastating year, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) was researching the availability and affordability of wildfire coverage. One step in increasing availability was ordering the California FAIR Plan to provide a comprehensive policy in addition to its fire-only coverage by June 1, 2020. 

Wildfire season started early and ferociously. According to CAL Fire’s website, as of October 4, over 4 million acres have burned. That is more than 20 times higher than the acres burned in 2019 for the same time period. Five of the top twenty largest wildfires in California have occurred in 2020 and wildfire season is not yet over. Although I’m very lucky to be safe from the fires, there are reminders of the devastation with the dark skies and the falling ash. Checking both the air quality index and pandemic metrics has become my daily habit.

On March 18th a transportation network company’s (TNC) self-driving car hit and killed a woman in Arizona. This crash brings up insurance questions similar to those generated by the December 31, 2013 fatal accident that first brought the issue of ridesharing and insurance into the spotlight. Transportation network companies wanted personal insurers to cover the exposure, but insurance industry trade groups believed commercial insurance should apply from app on to app off. This led insurance trade groups, insurers and TNCs to develop a compromise model bill. Since then, 48 states and the District of Columbia  have enacted TNC legislation. It also prompted insurers to create new products for TNC drivers.

The recent Equifax breach of 143 million individuals’ personal data was announced September 7, 2017. The hack included social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver’s license numbers and might also include credit card numbers. According to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, “The number of people impacted and the sensitivity of the breached information may make this the most significant data breach ever.”