Insurance companies have so far paid out more than $12 billion for los
ses from the two biggest of the Los Angeles-area wildfires that swept throu
gh the region and destroyed tens of thousands of homes in January.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Wednesday announc
ed new figures as part of an update of the public consumer claims tracking syst
em for the fires. Th
e new figures are nearly double the $6.9 billion in claims paid out last month.
The bulk of yet-to-be-paid claims include property damage and debris r
emoval, which will be paid when people begin the process of rebuilding and
debris removal, according to the California Department of Insurance.
The CDI’s latest figures from the fires show:
37,749 insurance cla
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ims have been filed for home, business, living expenses and other disaster-related ne
eds.
27,821 claims partially paid under l
aws requiring advance payments to speed recovery.
$12.1 billion paid out to date to insurance policyholders.
Early estimates put insured loss
es at $8 billion for the Eaton and Palisades fire to $40 billion for all five fires that burned around the same time in the region at one point.
Lloyd’s this week said it will lose $2.3 billion from the L.A. wildfires.
Munich Re said in February it expects about 1.2 billion euros ($1.26 billion) in claims resulting from the Los Angeles wildfires.
A few big reinsurers took sizeable hits, but those were far less than Lloyd’s and Mun
ich Re. Zurich Insurance Group AG said it is expecting pretax losses of $200 million from the wildfires. Swiss Re said claims from the wildfires would be less than $700 million and would impact its first quarter results.
The Travelers Companies in mid-February said it will lose an estimated $1.7 billion from the wildfires, Allstate Corp. on Jan. 5 reported losses in excess of $1 billion from the fires and State Farm reported more than $1 billion paid out to customers. Chubb said the wildfires are expected to cost the insurer $1.5 billion in the first quarter.
