Insured losses from California wildfires increase $614M

Insured losses to homes and businesses from the November 2018 Camp, Woolsey and Hill wildfires have increased by $614 million in the first three months of the year, pushing total claims to just over $12 billion as of April, according to California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara.

Together with the July 2018 fires in Northern California, last year’s overall losses topped $13 billion, the commissioner said in a statement on Wednesday.

Some 13,449 homes and businesses suffered a total loss out of 48,001 claims reported by insurers from the November 2018 fires, according to the latest data released by the department.

The $12.04 billion in losses is up slightly from the department’s January update, when the department said losses from the November 2018 fires had increased by 26% over its initial report.

The number of claims filed has also increased by 4% from January, compared to a 16% jump in January over the initial report after the November 2018 fires, the statement said.