Oregon home insurance nonrenewal: your rights

Oregon's notice rules

Oregon's homeowners notice rules are in ORS 746.687. Once a policy has been in force for 60 days or is a renewal:

• Nonrenewal: at least 30 days before the policy period ends.
• Cancellation for nonpayment or fraud: at least 10 days.
• Cancellation for other allowed reasons: at least 30 days.

DFR says cancellation notices must be mailed to the address on your policy, and that email or a phone call does not count.

SB 82: wildfire notices must explain themselves

Oregon's SB 82 (2023), codified at ORS 742.277, took effect January 1, 2024. If an insurer cancels, nonrenews or raises your premium for a reason materially related to wildfire risk, its notice must describe:

• the property-specific wildfire characteristics behind the decision,
• mitigation actions you could take to make the property more insurable, if any, and
• if it used a wildfire risk score, how scores are set, the possible range, where your home falls, and how mitigation could change it.

Insurers must also post on their websites whether and how mitigation affects their underwriting and rates. SB 82 bars insurers from using a state agency wildfire map to cancel, nonrenew or raise premiums. The statewide wildfire hazard map itself was repealed by SB 83 in 2025, though insurers can still use their own models.

Limits on using your claims

Oregon also limits how claims count. At renewal, an insurer may not use a claim with a date of loss more than five years before the renewal date, and may not use your first claim in that five-year window to decide whether to renew. If your notice points to an old claim or a single claim, ask the insurer to explain.

Ask why your premium went up

Under HB 2563 (2025), for homeowners policies renewed on or after September 1, 2026, you can ask your insurer or agent in writing to explain a premium increase. The insurer must answer within 20 days, in plain language, with up to four factors that contributed most.

Wildfire emergency orders

DFR issued a wildfire emergency order effective July 31, 2026, and extended it into October. For policies in listed ZIP codes, insurers had to pause cancellations and nonrenewals and withdraw notices that had not taken effect. These orders apply to admitted insurers, not surplus-lines insurers, and are extended 30 days at a time. Check DFR's website for current status.

The Oregon FAIR Plan

DFR calls the Oregon FAIR Plan an insurance policy of last resort. To qualify, two standard insurers must have declined you, and you apply through a licensed agent. The plan pays actual cash value, up to $600,000 on a dwelling policy, and has no liability or theft coverage. DFR says premiums are often higher and coverage less complete than a regular policy.

The surplus-lines market is another option. DFR says coverage there is usually more complete than the FAIR Plan, at a higher premium. The Oregon Surplus Line Association is at (503) 718-6700.

What DFR says often triggers nonrenewal

DFR notes that an older roof, an aging outbuilding, or large overhanging trees and yard debris will often trigger a nonrenewal or rejection of a new policy. Fixing those items and sending proof is often the quickest way back into the standard market.

A sensible order of steps

1. Check the notice. Wildfire notices must include the SB 82 details.
2. Check for an emergency order.
3. Fix and document. Roof, trees, debris and defensible space.
4. Shop broadly. More than 100 companies write homeowners insurance in Oregon, according to DFR.
5. Collect declinations and compare the FAIR Plan with surplus lines.
6. Tell your lender before the policy lapses.

Flood is separate

DFR lists floods among what homeowners insurance does not cover. Check FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and ask your agent about a flood policy.

Questions to ask an Oregon agent

• Does this company give credit for defensible space, home hardening, a Wildfire Prepared Home certificate or a Firewise USA community?
• Does the policy pay replacement cost or actual cash value?
• Is the insurer admitted, or is this a surplus-lines policy?

Before you sign

Read the declarations page and endorsements. Check the dwelling limit against a current rebuild estimate, and ask whether the policy includes extended replacement cost. If it is a surplus-lines policy, remember the 2026 emergency order protections applied only to admitted insurers.

Oregon paperwork that speeds up quotes

Bring your nonrenewal notice with its SB 82 wildfire details, photos of defensible space and the area within 5 feet of the house, receipts for roof, vent or tree work, and any Wildfire Prepared Home certificate. Add the date of every claim in the past five years, because Oregon law limits how insurers can use some claims.

When to call DFR

Call DFR consumer advocates at (888) 877-4894 if your notice is late, or if your insurer will not give the wildfire details SB 82 requires. To talk through replacement options, call us.

Not sure what your letter says? Use the notice decoder. Roof the problem? Read roof-age rules. Other states: all state guides.

Sources

• ORS 746.687, Notice of cancellation and nonrenewal
• ORS 742.277, Wildfire risk notices (SB 82)
• Oregon DFR, Help with home insurance
• Oregon DFR, File a complaint
• Oregon FAIR Plan Association