KCC estimates LA wildfire insured losses at $28 billion

(Reuters) — Catastrophe risk modeling company Karen Clark & Co.  estimates insured losses of about $28 billion from the Los Angeles wildfires, making them the costliest wildfires in U.S. history.

Since the fires broke out Jan. 7, they have burned an area nearly the size of Washington D.C., killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, according to California’s fire department.

U.S. and European insurers are expected to face catastrophe-related claims worth billions of dollars from the disaster.

The estimated losses include damage from the fires, as well as smoke, time-element losses for residents in evacuation zones whose homes were not damaged by the fire, guaranteed replacement cost coverage and demand surge, KCC said in its report.

These losses should be covered by typical insurance policies, it added.

Insurers have been hit hard by rising catastrophe claims from several wildfires and other natural disasters over the past few years.

The Palisades Fire burned nearly 24,000 acres across the Santa Monica Mountains and the towns of Pacific Palisades and Eastern Malibu. The Eaton Fire burned over 14,000 acres across the Angeles National Forest and the towns of Altadena and Sierra Madre.

On Wednesday, Verisk estimated insured losses from the fires to range between $28 billion to $35 billion.