Statewide Claims for California Wildfires Reach Nearly $12B

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Insurers have received nearly 45,000 insurance claims totaling more than $11.79 billion in losses from the wildfires that burned across the state in October and December 2017, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced today.

The fires in Northern California in October and Southern California in December damaged and destroyed more than 32,000 homes, 4,300 businesses, more than 8,200 vehicles, watercraft, farm vehicles, and other equipment, according to the California Department of Insurance.

“At nearly $12 billion in insured losses, these claim numbers are staggering and represent the costliest fires in California history,” Jones said in a statement. “The fires were unprecedented for their severity and disastrous consequences. Whole neighborhoods were wiped out, as wind-driven flames destroyed thousands of homes, upended tens of thousands of residents’ lives and tragically killed more than 45 people across the state.”

Jones also issued a notice to insurers asking them to waive the requirement for policyholders to submit a detailed home inventory and pay up to 100 percent of contents coverage to spare survivors the arduous task of trying to recreate lists of every item they lost in the fires.