[QUOTE=LWJ;12387513]
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On a positive note (if anything positive about this) is that homeowners insurance covers fires (not flood damage like with Helene). Homeowners that lose their house and survive will be able to rebuild...somewhere./QUOTE]
Except this size of loss is going to shock and paralyze the Insurance industry. We are currently seeing a very hard market for older properties - I had a "to the studs" remodeled apartment go from $8K to $36K this month due to the hard market and one goofy claim that they probably didn't cause. Have another property we have not found any coverage yet - older and less desireable.
After the Camp Fire (poorly named!) in 2018 CIG Insurance had reserves that were so low the rating was going from an A to a B. Which is the start of a death spiral for an insurance carrier. They merged (sold) with a large national firm to avoid this.
I expect that property coverage and rates are going to become a significant issue in the US due to this fire(s).
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Initial estimates $57BN damage in total (economic) loss (so far).
Initial estimates of insured loss $20MM (so far).
" Expectations of economic losses stemming from the fires have more than doubled since yesterday to closer to $50 billion, and we estimate that insured losses from the event could exceed $20 billion (and even more if the fires are not controlled),” JPMorgan wrote in a note to clients. " Financial Times
" State Farm — one of the state’s biggest insurers — dropping 70 percent of its customers in and around the Santa Monica Mountains last summer. " New York Times
Good call by someone at State Farm. I mean, good for State Farm.