Washington has long been treated as a low-risk property state, and the pricing reflects it — premiums here are among the lowest of the markets we write in most. The summer of 2026 put that assumption under real pressure.
The average Washington premium sits near $1,880 a year, comfortably below the national average of roughly $2,490. Before August the state was, in the words of David Forte of the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, stabilised and heading into a price-competitive market.
Then on 1 August 2026 a wildfire reached Spokane, destroying roughly 700 homes and forcing around 60,000 evacuations. State officials have called it one of the most destructive fires in Washington's history. On 5 August, Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer issued an emergency order giving affected residents a grace period on premium payments and preventing cancellation for nonpayment.
What happens next is the open question. Washington's FAIR Plan remains very small — on the order of 400 policies over the past three quarters, against roughly 700,000 in California — so there is no large residual market absorbing displaced homeowners here. Consumer advocates expect carriers to seek rate increases on the strength of the loss. If you own in an exposed area, this is a year to have documented mitigation and to know what your policy actually says.
Market conditions as of September 2026.
Washington's FAIR Plan exists but is very small — roughly 400 policies over the past three quarters, against something near 700,000 in California.
That is a sign of a healthy admitted market rather than a gap, but it also means there is little residual capacity if the Spokane fire pushes carriers to tighten. The practical implication is that keeping your property attractive to the standard market matters more here than in states with a large last-resort mechanism to fall into.
Send us the declarations page you have now. Carriers move in and out of a state without telling the people already in it, so what was the best available policy two years ago often is not today.
Send your policyPersonal and commercial lines, shopped across the carriers appointed where you are. If you hold more than one of these, there is usually something to find in how they fit together.
Send us your declarations page and we will tell you what you actually have, what it would pay, and whether anything worth changing has changed in this market.
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