Why did my Oregon home insurance go up or get non-renewed?

What the models actually look at

Scoring models weigh the fuel around your home, the slope it sits on, prevailing wind patterns, distance to a fire station and to a hydrant or draft source, and how a fire engine would physically get to your driveway.

This is why two houses on the same road can score differently. A property at the top of a slope with brush to the property line and a long narrow driveway is a materially different risk from the one across the street on flat ground with a paved approach.

What you can change

Defensible space is the lever that moves scores. Clearing vegetation within the first five feet of the structure, thinning fuel out to a hundred feet where terrain allows, cleaning gutters and screening vents against embers, and keeping the driveway passable for a fire engine all matter.

Ember intrusion — not a wall of flame — destroys most homes lost to wildfire. Vent screening and roof condition are disproportionately effective for what they cost.

Appetite varies more than price does

The useful thing about an independent brokerage here is not finding a cheaper version of the same answer. It is that carriers disagree sharply about which Oregon addresses they will write at all. A decline from one carrier says very little about what the next will do.

If nothing standard will write it

Surplus lines carriers write properties the standard market declines, at higher cost and with different terms. It is a real option and worth understanding before you assume you are uninsurable.