New Mexico insurers refused to renew policies for record number of homes in 2025, official says

The sharp increase has prompted the New Mexico Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, which Kane oversees, to step up its data collection from the state’s top 10 insurers to better identify why homeowners are losing their policies. So far, homeowners in Rio Arriba, Taos, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties appear to be most at risk, Kane said.

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.

“The majority of these non-renewals are coming in wildfire-prone areas, and we want to continue to monitor this,” Kane told lawmakers. 

The record number of non-renewals stood out as one of several indicators Kane outlined that showed a mixed picture of how the private insurance market is or isn’t covering New Mexico homeowners. 

The state’s top 10 providers suffered major revenue losses in 2024 and 2025 in New Mexico, due to the 2024 South Fork and Salt Fires, she said. But in the decade before that, the carriers largely met their profitability targets in New Mexico. 

And she noted that no company has pulled out of the state entirely, unlike in California. 

As for homeowners, premiums have increased at accelerated rates since the pandemic due to supply chain issues for construction materials and recent wildfires. But average insurance premium increases were less than 5% in 2025 and 2026, far less than the 9.3% increases in 2024 and 15% in 2023, Kane noted. 

Officials with the state’s biggest insurer, State Farm, did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Wednesday about the rate increases or non-renewals. The company holds more than one-fifth of New Mexico homeowners insurance policies, according to the OSI. 

Lawmakers at the Tuesday hearing asked Kane about the impact of recent legislative efforts to buttress the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, often called the “insurer of last resort,” which serves homeowners whose policies are not renewed, along with others who otherwise can’t to secure private market insurance. 

NM Insurance Superintendent asks for extension of nation’s largest wildfire mitigation program

In 2025, the Legislature gave $10 million to the OSI to help homeowners with FAIR Plan coverage mitigate their homes against wildfire risk, including measures like clearing trees from near structures, installing screens on vents and making roofs more flame resistant. 

Kane said Tuesday that the grant program is still in its early stages. Still, she said that she is hopeful insurers will see other statewide efforts at mitigating wildfire risk to homes and choose to continue covering homeowners. 

She also said insurers will soon start offering discounts to homeowners who prove they’ve minimized wildfire risk, she said. 

“We’ve seen in a number of situations where there were going to be non-renewals. If the homeowner has mitigated… sometimes the non-renewal is canceled,” she said. “And they’re able to keep their insurance.”