Farmers Insurance cancels over 1,000 property insurance policies in Oklahoma due to wildfire risk

Okla. (KXII) – In November, Farmers Insurance will cancel home insurance for approximately 1,300 homeowners in eastern Oklahoma.

“Farmers are taking action not only in Oklahoma but across the country to reduce their specific risk from wildfires,” said Glen Mulready, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner.

It’s unclear how many, if any, of those homes are in Texoma, but Mulready said there should be plenty of options for homeowners who lose their insurance coverage.

“We have a lot of competition out there,” he said. “Currently, 113 insurance companies in Oklahoma actively offer homeowners insurance.”

Farmers’ move is the latest in a long line of insurance companies across the country limiting their coverage in states such as Florida, California and Texas due to concerns about climate change and natural disasters.

This year in particular, Oklahoma is familiar with severe weather.

“We had 103 tornadoes last year, two of which were EF-4 tornadoes,” Mulready said. “This is the first time since 2011 that we’ve had two EF-4 tornadoes in one year.”

Both homeowners and insurers are feeling the effects.

“How much did you pay out in claims?” Mulready asked. “For our top 20 homeowners insurance companies, that number was 105%. For every dollar they collected, they paid out $105 in claims.”

However, Mulready said there is a difference between the states with the most health insurance losses and Oklahoma.

“There were areas in their state where no insurance company would write home insurance,” he said. “That doesn’t exist in Oklahoma.”

Even though it’s becoming increasingly difficult to increase profitability, local homeowners shouldn’t have any problems finding insurance in the near future, he says.

“We have an affordability problem, I admit that,” Mulready said. “We all struggle with that, but we don’t have an availability problem.”

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