Auto and homeowners insurer State Farm has received more than 6,700 home and auto claims, as of the morning of January 14th, 2025, from damages related to the recent wildfires in Los Angeles, California.
State Farm remains the largest insurer group in the State of California, serving more than 8 million policies and accounts. The insurer has been in the state since 1928, and currently insures 250,000 homes and 880,000 automobiles, in LA County.
State Farm notes that it is prepared to address the growing number of claims expected as residents return and assess damage.
“As the magnitude of the losses in Southern California becomes clearer, our concern for the lives impacted only deepens. We are responding, as we always do in tragedies like this, to deliver on our longstanding mission to help people recover from the unexpected,” says State Farm.
To recap, extremely critical fire weather conditions started on January 7th across Southern California, leading to wildfires causing exceptional property damage, particularly near the Pacific Palisades and the Pasadena and Altadena communities in Los Angeles County.
Since the fires are not fully contained, the estimation of insured losses is still ongoing, but industry analysts and observers have estimated that insured losses will range between $15 and $40 billion, with economic losses currently ranging between $150 billion to $275 billion.
Much of the loss is expected to fall to the primary market, although the fact the fires will likely be viewed as one event should help insurers reach their per-occurrence reinsurance coverages, while losses to California’s FAIR Plan are also expected to be significant, at up to $8 billion according to some estimates.
Apart from State Farm, Mercury General is the only other insurer that we are aware has provided an update on the fires, saying recently that losses will likely exceed its $150 million reinsurance retention.
The post State Farm reports over 6,700 claims from LA wildfires appeared first on ReinsuranceNe.ws.
