17,000 Liberty Mutual customers in California lose their home fire insurance: What you need to know

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — This is another blow to homeowners across the state. Fire insurance company Liberty Mutual is the latest company to drop fire insurance in California.

About 17,000 policyholders in California will not have their building fire insurance renewed.

These changes began last fall and will continue through November.

Building fire insurance covers fire damage to the building structure, not to the items in the house. Landlords or holiday home owners often rely on it.

MORE: State Farm does not renew 30,000 homeowners insurance policies in California, including in high-fire risk areas

Critics say the insurance industry is making increasingly big changes, leaving more homeowners in limbo.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Larry Langford of West Sacramento, who will lose his home insurance in about two weeks.

“I’m one of those people who’s having their insurance canceled,” Langford said.

Liberty Mutual Insurance has decided not to renew Langford’s policy. It has nothing to do with wildfire risks.

“My yard was littered with debris and there were oak trees on, above or near my house,” Langford said.

MORE: State Farm Insurance says some California homeowners can keep their coverage, but there’s a catch

That’s a completely different reason than why Liberty Mutual is not renewing the policies of 17,000 California policyholders.

According to a Liberty Mutual Group spokesman, non-renewal of building fire insurance policies began last fall.

The company said it is “retiring the legacy technology it uses to manage residential fire safety policies.”

“That’s a very difficult message for consumers to understand. All they know is, I’m losing my insurance and I’ve done nothing wrong,” said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders and a consumer advocate for home insurance.

In a statement, Liberty Mutual said:

“The decision to stop selling this product line is not specific to California and has nothing to do with the fire hazard.”

Critics say more and more insurance companies are looking for excuses to drop their policyholders.

“It just makes me sad that these companies are fleeing California for various reasons,” Langford said.

“For them, it’s a business,” Bach said.

MORE: Allstate plans to increase home insurance premiums in California by an average of 34%

Bach said the Ministry of Insurance has reached an agreement with insurance companies that will allow them to use new technologies to determine the fire risk of homes.

Based on this information, insurance companies can then set their rates.

“The new technology that these insurance companies are using, these aerial drones, the aerial imagery that the drones provide them with, artificial intelligence, data mining, risk assessment systems – insurers are making business decisions because they are profit-making companies,” Bach said.

Bach says if you lose your insurance, “start looking around. Do your research. That’s the most important thing. You have 75 days to look for a new policy after your insurer tells you the policy is not being renewed,” she said.

“Visit our website, get advice and find a really good agent,” Bach said.

Liberty Mutual Group in California continues to offer residential fire insurance under the Safeco Insurance brand, according to a company spokesman.

The latest announcement affects about 1% of all Liberty Mutual personal insurance policies in California.