Oregon law requires thirty days' written notice of a homeowner non-renewal, and it bars an insurer from refusing to renew over your first claim in five years. A wildfire-related non-renewal or increase must come with the property-specific reasons. Earthquake and flood are separate purchases. The Oregon FAIR Plan is the last resort: basic fire-based coverage at actual cash value, with no liability or theft cover.
What Oregon law gives you when the notice arrives
ORS 746.687 requires an insurer to mail or deliver a notice of renewal or non-renewal of a homeowner policy at least thirty days before the policy period ends. Cancelling in the middle of a term is allowed only for the reasons the statute lists: non-payment, fraud or material misrepresentation, violating the policy's terms, a substantial increase in the risk, or a solvency determination by the state's insurance director. The notice must give the reason and the date, with ten days' notice for non-payment or fraud and thirty days for the rest. A new policy can be cancelled during its first sixty days on underwriting grounds, but not because you filed a claim in that window.
- Old claimsORS 746.686 bars an insurer from using a claim more than five years old to decide whether to write or renew a homeowner policy, or to set its rate.
- Your first claimThe first claim you made in the last five years cannot be the reason to refuse a renewal.
- Questions are not claimsCalling to ask whether something is covered cannot be used against you if you are not making a claim.
- IncreasesThe Division of Financial Regulation describes a 2025 law, House Bill 2563, that requires a plain-language explanation of a premium increase on written request, with up to four significant factors. It lists the law as effective September 1, 2026.
Wildfire: the notice you are owed and the map that is gone
On Labor Day weekend in 2020 an east wind drove five megafires across Oregon, among them Riverside and Beachie Creek. The state's emergency management department counts more than one million acres burned and over 5,000 homes and businesses destroyed, with more than 40,000 people forced to leave home. Wildfire has been part of how Oregon homes are underwritten ever since.
Two statutes came out of it. Under ORS 742.277, an insurer that cancels, non-renews or raises the premium on a homeowner policy for a reason materially related to wildfire risk has to tell you which characteristics of your property caused it, what mitigation would improve the home's insurability, and, if it used a wildfire risk score, how the score works and where your home sits in its range. A wildfire-related increase must also say which mitigation steps would earn a discount and how much. ORS 742.278 bars insurers from using a wildfire map published by a state agency to cancel, non-renew or raise a homeowner premium.
In 2025 Senate Bill 83 repealed the statewide wildfire hazard map altogether. The Division of Financial Regulation is plain about what that does not change: insurers still use their own proprietary models. So the letter you received rests on the insurer's score, not the state's map, and the statute gives you the right to see what drove it.
Earthquake is a separate purchase
Oregon's emergency management department describes the Cascadia Subduction Zone as a 700-mile fault off the coast that last ruptured on January 26, 1700, and cites about a 37 percent chance of a magnitude 7.1 or larger earthquake on it in the next fifty years. Closer in, Multnomah County's hazard plan calls the Portland Hills Fault the most dangerous of the local faults because it runs under the county's most densely populated area, and notes that seismic construction standards were not broadly adopted in Oregon until the 1993 building code.
- Not in the home policyThe Division of Financial Regulation says most homeowner, condominium and renter policies do not cover earthquake damage, and that about 20 percent of Oregonians carry the separate coverage.
- DeductibleA percentage of the amount insured, not of the loss. Most insurers in Oregon sell ten or fifteen percent.
- LandslidesEarthquake insurance does not cover landslide, erosion or tsunami, even when an earthquake sets them off. That matters on West Hills lots.
- TimingMost insurers stop selling earthquake coverage for a period after a significant seismic event.
The City of Portland says many homes built before 1960 were not bolted to their foundations, and it publishes a standard plan for bolting the sill and bracing cripple walls under a building permit. Insurers that write earthquake cover on older homes ask about that work, and the Division notes some older homes may have to be retrofitted to qualify.
Ice, wind and trees: January 2024
The storm that opened 2024 brought more than a week of wind, snow and ice. The City of Portland reported thousands of people without power, more than 600 reports of downed trees and large branches in one week, and a Water Bureau that repaired twenty main breaks and handled hundreds of emergency water shutoffs between January 13 and 20. For a home policy that is two kinds of claim: a tree through the roof and a burst pipe. Both are usually covered, and both go on the loss history the next insurer reads. That is where the first-claim rule above earns its keep, and why I ask for the dates and causes of every claim before I approach a market.
If nobody will write it: the Oregon FAIR Plan
The Oregon FAIR Plan Association was created by the Legislature in 1971 and operates under ORS 735.005 to 735.145. Every insurer licensed to write property insurance in Oregon is a member, and it receives no tax money. You must be turned down by two standard insurers first, and the application has to come through a licensed agent; the Plan does not deal with the public directly.
- What it writesA basic dwelling policy for one-to-four-family homes: fire and lightning, with windstorm, hail, smoke and the other extended perils, and then vandalism, as options.
- What it leaves outLiability, theft and water damage. It is not a homeowners package policy.
- How it paysActual cash value, meaning depreciation is taken. Replacement cost is not offered.
- LimitSix hundred thousand dollars for a dwelling policy across all coverage parts, unless the Plan arranges reinsurance case by case.
- ConditionsNo vacant property. A worn-out or unrepaired roof is written for fire only. Most new policies are inspected in person within the first sixty days.
The Plan itself says its policy should be treated as temporary and that you no longer qualify once a standard insurer will take the home. A separate wrap-around policy from another insurer can add liability and the missing perils, so the Plan is where I go last and stay shortest.
Flood, and where to complain
The Division of Financial Regulation says most homeowner policies do not cover flood damage, that coverage is sold through the National Flood Insurance Program and some private insurers, and that a new federal policy takes thirty days to go into effect. It also warns that land in and around burn areas faces a higher risk of flooding and mudflow for several years. I quote flood insurance alongside the home policy. If a notice does not follow the rules on this page, the Division's consumer advocates take complaints about non-renewals, cancellations and claims at 888-877-4894, and they send the complaint to the company for a response.
What I need to quote
The address, the non-renewal or renewal notice and the current declarations page are enough to begin. Then: year built, roof material and age, updates to wiring, plumbing and heating, whether the house is bolted to its foundation, large trees near the roof, how close the lot is to forest or a steep slope, the date and cause of each claim in the last five years, and the date coverage must start.
Common questions
How much notice does an Oregon insurer have to give before non-renewing my home policy?
At least thirty days before the policy period ends, in writing, under ORS 746.687. A mid-term cancellation needs ten days' notice for non-payment or fraud and thirty days for the other permitted reasons.
Can my insurer drop me in Oregon for filing one claim?
Not for your first claim in five years. ORS 746.686 bars an insurer from using that claim, or any claim more than five years old, to decide whether to renew.
Why was my home insurance non-renewed for wildfire risk near Portland?
Insurers score each property with their own wildfire models. Under ORS 742.277 the notice has to describe the property characteristics behind the decision and any mitigation that would help.
Can an insurer use Oregon's wildfire hazard map against me?
No. ORS 742.278 bars using a state agency's wildfire map to cancel, non-renew or raise a homeowner premium, and the Legislature repealed the statewide map in 2025.
Does home insurance in Portland cover earthquakes?
No. Oregon's insurance regulator says most homeowner policies exclude earthquake damage; it is bought separately, usually with a deductible of ten or fifteen percent of the amount insured.
Who insures a Portland home after a non-renewal?
Usually another standard insurer or a surplus lines insurer, depending on the roof, the claims and the wildfire score. The Oregon FAIR Plan comes last, after two standard insurers have turned the home down.
What does the Oregon FAIR Plan not cover?
Liability, theft and water damage, according to the Plan. It pays actual cash value, not replacement cost, up to six hundred thousand dollars on a dwelling policy.
General information about home insurance in Portland and the Willamette Valley as of November 2026, not legal advice. Statutes, Division of Financial Regulation guidance, FAIR Plan rules and insurer appetite change; the policy wording controls what is covered. Hazard and storm figures are from the State of Oregon, Multnomah County and the City of Portland. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.