Homeowners insurance in Idaho

The home insurance market in Idaho

Idahoans paid $969.7 million in homeowners premiums in 2025, according to NAIC market share data. These are the 10 largest insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written:

Idaho is one of nine states, plus the District of Columbia, where State Farm is not the largest home insurer (our count from the NAIC data). Liberty Mutual's group, which includes the Seattle-born Safeco brand, leads with about a fifth of the market, and the top 10 groups together wrote about 87% of premiums. Four more groups hold between 8% and 10% each, so a shopper who gets turned down by one large carrier still has several mainstream names to try.

That is getting harder, though. The Idaho Department of Insurance said in April 2025 that 91 property insurers were writing in the state in 2023 and that roughly 22 to 25 of them had nonrenewed some or all of their policies, partly over wildfire. Its December 2025 fact sheet counts 12 carriers that filed block nonrenewal notices for homeowners business since the start of 2024.

What drives home insurance costs in Idaho

Wildfire is the peril reshaping the market. According to the Department's fact sheet, about 1 million acres burned in Idaho in 2024 and more than 200 structures were lost; 2025 was milder, at 195,275 acres and 14 structures. The Department's data call of insurers found that the statewide average homeowners premium rose 37.47% from 2022 to 2024, including 22.48% from 2023 to 2024. Its October 2025 findings name three drivers: construction inflation, rising home values and housing demand from population growth, and increasing fire frequency. The same findings say wildfire is still a small but growing share of paid losses, which tells you insurers are pricing the risk of a bad fire year near the wildland edge, not just the claims they paid last year.

Idaho still costs less to insure than most states. The NAIC's average HO-3 premium for Idaho was $1,135 in 2023, against $1,737 countrywide. The Department ran a second data call in May 2026 covering 2022 through 2025.

Wind is the other recent driver: FEMA declared major disasters in Idaho for straight-line winds on Dec. 16 to 18, 2025, and for storms, winds, flooding and landslides on March 11 to 15, 2026. Earthquakes are the quiet exposure. The March 31, 2020 M6.5 Stanley earthquake was the second-largest ever recorded in Idaho, after the 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak quake, according to the USGS.

Deductibles and coverage rules to know

Idaho has no hurricane or named-storm deductible rules, and it is not on the Insurance Information Institute's list of hurricane-deductible states. Any separate wind or hail deductible comes from the insurer's own policy, so check the declarations page. If it is a percentage, the hurricane and percentage deductible calculator turns it into dollars.

Fire, including wildfire, is a covered peril in standard homeowners forms; in Idaho the problem is getting and keeping a policy, not the coverage itself (see does homeowners insurance cover wildfire?). Earthquake is excluded by the standard earth movement exclusion and needs its own endorsement or policy.

Idaho Code §41-1843 bars insurers from charging more, or cancelling, nonrenewing or declining a policy, based primarily on your credit history.

Flood and other gaps

Homeowners policies exclude flood. FEMA counted 4,645 NFIP policies in force in Idaho as of Sept. 30, 2026. Ada County had 1,804 of them, including 803 in Boise and 408 in Garden City, and Kellogg in the Silver Valley had 321. Burn scars raise flood risk after a fire, and FEMA's manual allows a one-day waiting period, instead of the usual 30 days, for flooding from federal land made worse by post-wildfire conditions, if you buy coverage by the fire's containment date or within 60 days after it. See NFIP flood insurance explained.

If you can't find coverage

Idaho has no FAIR plan; the PIPSO list of state FAIR plans that III republishes has no Idaho entry. Department Director Dean Cameron told KTVB in April 2025 that FAIR plan assessments in other states are part of why carriers leave. Homes the standard market turns down go to surplus lines insurers. The Department says Idahoans paid $168 million to surplus lines companies for property coverage in 2024, twice the 2022 amount.

Surplus lines can be a workable answer, but read the policy closely. These carriers do not hold an Idaho certificate of authority, and the Idaho Insurance Guaranty Association covers claims only against insolvent insurers that do (Idaho Code §41-3605). See surplus lines home insurance when standard carriers say no.

Notice rules are changing. Today a fire policy must give 30 days' written notice before cancellation, or 10 days for nonpayment (§41-2401). House Bill 562 (2026) sets 60 days' notice for both nonrenewal and cancellation, with a specific stated reason, for policies issued or renewed on or after Jan. 1, 2027; the Department's Bulletin 26-12 says a general reference to underwriting or company guidelines is not enough. An insurer planning a block nonrenewal must notify the Director 120 days ahead (§41-1841). If you get a notice, start with your home insurance was nonrenewed: what to do now and the nonrenewal action plan.

Claims rules and deadlines

Idaho sets no day counts for acknowledging or deciding a claim. Idaho Code §41-1329 makes it an unfair practice to fail to act reasonably promptly on claim communications, to fail to affirm or deny coverage within a reasonable time after proof of loss, or to deny a claim without a reasonable explanation. An insurer must send proof-of-loss forms when you ask in writing (§41-1831).

The real teeth are in §41-1839: if an insurer does not pay the amount justly due within 30 days after proof of loss, it must pay your reasonable attorney's fees in a later lawsuit or arbitration, unless it tendered the full amount owed. Send proof of loss in writing and keep a dated copy.

On deadlines to sue, §29-110 makes void any contract clause that limits the time to enforce your rights, and §5-216 gives five years for actions on written contracts. Even so, read your policy's suit clause and talk to an Idaho attorney before relying on either. Idaho has no state claim mediation program, so disputes over the amount of loss usually go through the policy's appraisal clause.

Discounts and mitigation programs

Idaho has no state mitigation grant. The Department backed a wildfire risk mitigation and stabilization pool and fund in 2025 (House Bill 17) and an Idaho Wildfire Risk Mitigation Fund in 2026 (House Bill 619, grants up to $20,000 each). Neither advanced out of the House Business Committee. A 2026 bill requiring insurers to disclose wildfire risk models and scores, House Bill 618, also stalled there.

With no state mandate, any mitigation discount is the insurer's choice. Cameron's advice to homeowners has been practical: swap wooden fencing for metal, keep gutters clean and keep a green buffer around the home, then show your insurer the work. See home hardening for wildfire and insurance discounts.

Where to get help

The Idaho Department of Insurance regulates insurers and agents. Its Consumer Affairs section answers questions and takes complaints: 208-334-4250, or the toll-free consumer hotline at 800-721-3272. File online at doi.idaho.gov or write to 700 W. State Street, 3rd Floor, P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0043. Try to resolve the problem with your insurer or agent first, and keep copies of every letter and claim document; how to file a complaint with your state insurance department walks through the process. Home warranty disputes go to the Idaho Attorney General's office, 208-334-2424.

Neighboring state guides: Washington, Oregon, Montana and Utah.