Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act of 2025

Summary

Requires the Government Accountability Office, working with the Federal Insurance Office and state insurance regulators, to complete a nationwide study of wildfire risk and how insurance markets are responding, and to send a report to Congress within 12 months. The study must measure trends in wildfire declarations and costs, review homeowner and commercial property insurance changes over the prior decade, assess state regulatory and market tools (including reinsurance and residual markets), and evaluate impacts on affordability, vulnerable communities, housing supply, insurer solvency, and potential policy responses if insurers withdraw.

• Requires GAO to study wildfire risk and insurance market responses and report to Congress within 12 months.
• Directs analysis of federal wildfire declaration trends by geography, cost, probability, and frequency.
• Requires a 10-year review of homeowners and commercial property wildfire insurance changes, including rates, nonrenewals, exclusions, and conditional coverage.
• Calls for assessment of mitigation practices, federal/state risk-measurement programs, and the potential need for a national wildfire-risk map.
• Examines state regulatory actions, residual market and reinsurance tools, and impacts on affordability and availability.
• Requires evaluation of underwriting challenges, correlated risks, insurer solvency risks, and community and housing supply impacts.
• Focuses on informing policy options if private insurers retreat from fire-prone markets; it does not itself alter laws or fund programs.
• Mandates consultation with the Federal Insurance Office and state regulators but does not create binding mandates for states or insurers.
• Study leverages existing data sources (including Fire Management Assistance grant records) to identify trends and gaps.