H.R. 550 — Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act of 2025

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation with the Director of the Federal Insurance Office and state insurance regulators, to conduct a study analyzing (1) wildfire risk in the United States, including trends in declarations under the Fire Management Assistance Grant program (42 U.S.C. 5187) by geography, costs, probability, and frequency; mitigation practices to reduce insurance costs and risks; existing federal and state programs measuring wildfire risk and their effectiveness; and the need for a national wildfire risk map; (2) the state of homeowners and commercial property insurance coverage for wildfire damage over the 10-year period ending on the date of enactment, including rate and cost-sharing adjustments (after inflation), policy non-renewals, contributing factors, curtailments or exclusions, and conditions for continued coverage (e.g., property hardening or landscaping); (3) state regulatory responses to rate increases, cost-sharing, or coverage exclusions, including rate regulation, moratoria, coverage mandates, residual markets or reinsurance, other actions (e.g., forestry policies or premium subsidies), and their effects on availability, affordability, and sustainability; and (4) challenges in underwriting wildfire risk, including correlated risks, estimation factors, effects of housing development in high-risk areas, solvency threats, affordability limits, potential government responses (e.g., forest management, data improvements, reinsurance encouragement), policy options if insurers exit the market, and impacts on local communities.