Frequently Asked Questions

Usually, yes — but not always the one you had, and not always at the price you remember. Some standard carriers are still writing in Lincoln and Otero County for homes with defensible space, a Class A roof, and ember-resistant vents. When the standard market says no, we go to the surplus-lines carriers that specialize in high-fire property, and as a last resort the New Mexico FAIR Plan, which raised its maximum residential limit from $350,000 to $750,000 in July 2025. We will tell you plainly which market you are in and what each one does and does not cover.

First: you are not alone, and it is not personal. The New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance counted over 10,000 homeowners non-renewals statewide between January 2021 and July 2024. Second: call us as soon as the notice arrives, not the week before it takes effect. A non-renewal gives you a window, and the more of it we have, the more markets we can approach. Bring the notice, your current declarations page, and any photos of your defensible space or roof work. We shop it across every carrier still writing here and come back with real options before the old policy lapses.

After 2024, if you are downstream of a burn scar, we think so. The flood maps were drawn for a watershed that no longer exists — the ground that used to absorb the rain burned. On July 8, 2025, the Rio Ruidoso crested at 17.86 feet, the highest of 71 years of USGS records, and most of the homes that flooded were outside a mapped flood zone. Flood is excluded from every homeowners policy. It is a separate policy, through the NFIP or a private carrier, and there is a waiting period before it starts. The time to buy it is before monsoon season.

The New Mexico FAIR Plan is the state's insurer of last resort for property that the standard market will not write. As of January 2025, 7,210 residents and 280 business owners were enrolled. It is real coverage and it is better than nothing — but it is a basic, named-peril policy with a limit that was only recently raised to $750,000. As we say on every one of our own forms, surplus-lines carriers and the FAIR Plan may not provide all necessary insurance needs for a mortgage or your protection. If you are placed there, we will go over exactly what is missing and whether a companion policy can fill it.

For most homes and autos, we can quote within a few business days and bind once you have approved the coverage and the carrier has approved the risk. But there is one thing you need to know about the mountains: when a wildfire or a flood event is active, carriers block new binding in the affected area until the event is at least 90% contained. The carriers decide when the block lifts, not the agency. That means the time to put coverage in place is before fire season, not when there is smoke on the ridge. If you are under a catastrophe binding block, we will tell you immediately and line everything up so it binds the moment the restriction lifts.

For a home: the address, the year built, square footage, the roof material and age, and any updates to the electrical, plumbing, or heating. Photos of your defensible space help more than you would think. For auto: drivers, vehicles, and your current declarations page. For a business or ranch: what you do, where, revenue, payroll, and a list of the buildings, equipment, and vehicles. If you do not have all of it, send what you have. We will fill in the rest on the phone.

No. Our office is in Ruidoso and most of our clients are in Lincoln and Otero County, but Ashley is licensed in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, and we insure families and businesses across all three — including a lot of Texans with a second home up here. If you are anywhere in those three states, we can help.