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California Wildfire Insurance Claims at $9B and Rising
The California Dept. of Insurance says preliminary insurance claims figures stemming from last month’s California wildfires have already hit $9.05 billion and are expected to climb higher. Roughly $7 billion in claims are connected to the Camp Fire that destroyed the Northern California city of Paradise. The balance is tied to two fires in Southern California, the Woolsey and Hill fires. The report reflects the actual insured losses reported by insurers to date.
State insurance commissioner Dave Jones says, “The devastating wildfires of 2018 were the deadliest and most destructive wildfire catastrophes in California’s history. The tragic deaths of 88 people and over $9 billion in insured losses to date are shocking numbers—behind the insured loss numbers are thousands of people who’ve been traumatized by unfathomable loss.”
So far, there have been more than 28,000 claims filed for residential personal property losses, as well as nearly 2,000 from commercial property and 9,400 for auto and other losses. Those numbers significantly exceed claims filed from last year’s Wine Country fires in Northern California. Those fires were initially reported at $3.3 billion in losses but eventually grew to $9 billion.
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