California’s crippling home insurance market faces massive shake up as savior emerges

California’s crippling home insurance crisis could be saved after a wildfire defense company launched a game-changing product to stop houses burning down.

Frontline Wildfire Defense offers a sprinkler system that automatically sprays down a property with a light mist when a blaze is close by.

The product, the company says, can shake up the insurance market. “It’s like a giant car wash,” Greg Dexter, a Healdsburg homeowner who installed the sprinklers on his eaves and roof, told NBC Bay Area.

Dexter had brought Frontline after after his insurance company dropped him after deeming his home too risky.

Such sprinkler defense systems, which can cost $15,000 to $30,000 for most properties, is basically a self-defense rig to shield against wildfires, he added.

It seems there’s proof it works from last year’s huge Los Angeles wildfires. Of the 61 customer homes in the LA fire zones, 59 survived, said Frontline founder Harry Statter. Those results caught the attention of insurers.

“We’ve had a number of insurance companies contact us,” Statter said. “They want to develop programs.”

Now, Frontline Wildfire Defense has proudly declared on its website that it is backed by the insurance industry.

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“We’re bringing you something homeowners have never seen before. Namely, active wildfire defense that’s being used in the assessment of your home insurance,” the company said.

“It’s not just about your zip code anymore. It’s about how your home defends itself,” it added.

Frontline partnered with Stand Insurance, a San Francisco startup. The partnership gives homeowners with the system up to a 25% discount. More such similar partnerships could come.

The potential solution comes as the city and state are going through an insurance crisis. Too many people are on the state’s FAIR plan, the state’s insurance program which provides basic fire coverage for those in the California with “high risk properties” that major insurers won’t cover.

The program warned last year it were running out of money after paying out thousands of claims to victims of the Palisades and Eaton fires, and such homeowners are facing a premium hike of 30%.

At the same time, due to the costly devastation, private insurers have made threats to leave the state if rate hikes aren’t granted for them or other factors like wildfire mitigation aren’t implemented.

For Dexter, the sprinklers have provided a great relief.

“It’s not gonna stop the vineyard from burning, but it’s gonna sprinkle the whole house,” Dexter said. “It’ll rain around the whole house and the embers will go out.”