A swingset and the remains of burned homes and a vehicle are seen in Gates in September 2020. The town, along the Santiam River, was all but destroyed by the Beachie Creek Fire.

Oregon’s Division of Finance Regulation has a list of “Top 10 home insurance myths.” It should add another: Robust home insurance is easily available and readily affordable for all in Oregon.

It’s not. For some, it has become more difficult to afford. For some, it has become more difficult to find.

It’s not so very different than what has happened in California and elsewhere.

There is an absolute last-ditch insurance solution for Oregon homeowners when all else fails. But it’s very basic coverage and the value limit can only be up to $600,000, without jumping through some reinsurance hoops.

Good luck finding a home in Bend with a value of less than $600,000. The chances seem to get slimmer by the day.

All those things should be part of the discussion when Oregon policy makers talk about affordable housing. Homeowners or prospective homeowners are not as high on the sympathy scale as people struggling for housing. But surely we all agree that home insurance should not be out of reach. It will be another reason people leave the state or never come.

If you look at some of the analysis done of the industry, it’s no surprise why consumers are getting squeezed. Insurers can get in trouble and take action to avoid risk or mitigate it when losses are rising faster than premiums.

“U.S. homeowners insurers saw their net losses and loss adjustments expenses jump to $101.29 billion in 2023, a year-over-year increase of 21.3%, while net premiums earned in the business line only grew by 10.8% to $119.89 billion,” according to a May article in S&P Global.

Damage from wildfires didn’t only hit some Oregonians hard. It also hit their insurers hard. If you were in charge of an insurance company’s risk analysis for wildfire, we are sure you would be more careful than going with what your gut and what news stories tell you about wildfire risk. But what does your gut and what do news stories tell you about Oregon wildfire risk?

It has got us wondering what state government will do about it: How about working with insurers before the next session to come up with a package of solutions. We have heard legislators reference this issue — Democratic state Sen. Jeff Golden of Ashland and local legislator state Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, are two. There are surely more that we are just not aware of.

Make it a myth that it’s hard to find robust homeowners insurance in Oregon for a reasonable price.