The message from a private firefighting service hired by his home insurer, Chubb Ltd. CB -0.66% , was accompanied by an email with some two dozen photos, including one of the service’s firefighters pumping water from Mr. Fredericks’s swimming pool to extinguish a brush fire on his Sonoma Valley property.
Increasingly, insurance carriers are finding wildfires, such as those in California, are an opportunity to provide protection beyond what most people get through publicly funded fire fighting. Some insurers say they typically get new customers when homeowners see the special treatment received by neighbors during big fires.
"The enrollment has taken off dramatically over the years as people have seen us save homes," Paul Krump, a senior executive at Chubb, said of the insurer’s Wildfire Defense Services. "It’s absolutely growing leaps and bounds."
The services are complimentary to policyholders in certain ZIP Codes or states that are prone to wildfires. Some insurers require policyholders to enroll in the programs in advance, to give permission for workers to access the property and to obtain contact information.
Chubb’s service, which began in 2008, is offered in 15 states. American International Group Inc. AIG -4.59% launched its Wildfire Protection Unit in 2005 in 14 California ZIP Codes. The unit has since expanded to 385 ZIP Codes in California, Colorado and Texas. Other insurers extending services include​Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, or PURE, and USAA.