Claims from the October wildfires likely will reach the level of claims made after the 2003 wildfires, according to insurers.
Twenty-three wildfires raged through Southern California last month, destroying lives, homes and businesses.
Claims are starting to roll in to insurance companies. But insurers say it is too soon to estimate the total damage caused by the fires.
The Santiago fire in Orange County burned nearly 30,000 acres and destroyed 15 homes. Twenty other buildings were destroyed or damaged. Eight homes were damaged. Estimated figures last week pegged the cost of the Santiago fire at $8.5 million, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire.
The Business Journal’s Carol Park asked insurance companies about what kind of claims they are seeing, what they have paid out so far and where do they rank the October fires versus others.
Following are their edited comments. All figures are as of Oct. 29.
Bill Sirola
Public affairs manager,
State Farm Insurance Co.
State Farm received more than 3,700 property insurance claims. Of those, 570 were for homes that were damaged beyond the point where they could be lived in,in other words, heavily damaged or totally destroyed. In addition, we have more than 500 automobile claims, with roughly one-fifth of those being totals.
Anytime we have a major fire, besides the actual damage from the fires themselves, we get smoke damage claims,that’s where the home interior has been damaged by smoke and ash. Some of the stronger winds in the region caused roof damage to homes. That’s why we have so many more claims than just total losses.
We really don’t have any dollar estimates.
The 1991 Oakland Hills fire is still a landmark event. In terms of lives lost, in terms of fire-related property losses, I would think it is still the worst.
It would appear that the current fires will be remarkably similar in the numbers of claims. 2003 had, as I recall, some 18,000 claims and more than 3,000 total losses for the industry.
Beyond insurance, there will be building permit issues, zoning issues, contractor availability issues and a whole host of things to be dealt with.
Jerry Spring
Public relations manager,
Automobile Club of Southern California
The Auto Club’s Interinsurance Exchange (unit) has received about 3,000 wind, smoke and fire damage claims from this series of fires. The large majority of claims was related to wind and smoke damage. We have also received about 75 fire damage claims on automobiles, and more than half have been settled. This number is changing daily.
We have paid an average of $16,000 per auto claim to date, but the homeowners’ claims are still being processed. It’s too soon to provide an estimate.
These fires are similar in size and geography to the 2003 fires because there were multiple locations. The number of claims hasn’t yet reached what we experienced in 2003, though.
(Victims of the wildfires) should be wary of unscrupulous contractors. Ask for contractors’ licenses, proof of workers’ compensation insurance and references. Policyholders want to get back into their home as soon as possible, and we want the same. Planning, getting city approvals and construction all take time to complete correctly. There is a process and it will take some time.
Jerry Davies
Media relations director,
Farmers Insurance Group
We have nearly 6,400 claims so far and we have 288 total losses.
We won’t have claims dollars added up for several weeks due to the massive coverage of the fires.
We believe these fires will come close to the 2003 fires. It is truly more widespread than 2003, although not as destructive in terms of the number of homes burned down. The 1991 fire was fairly concentrated and had terrible loss of life; these fires have taken seven lives.
Peter DeMarco
Senior corporate relations manager for California,
Allstate Insurance Co.
It’s too early to assess the scope of damage from the Southern California wildfires. Allstate has dispatched adjusters from all over California and around the country to help our customers start the recovery process as soon as possible.
Allstate currently has mobile recovery units on the ground with personnel who are ready to assist customers impacted by the wildfires.
If customers were forced from their homes by a mandatory civil evacuation resulting from the wildfires, they may be eligible for up to two weeks of reasonable additional living expenses.
The California fire situation is still very fluid and many areas remain inaccessible to residents and insurance adjusters. There simply is not enough information available at this point for anyone to make any credible loss estimates.
