Wildfires

Incorporating climate risks into modeling and pricing can help insurers better anticipate and manage their potential health and financial impacts.

Los Angeles County sued State Farm, California's largest home insurer, for alleged delays, denials and underpayments of property damage claims filed by victims of the massive January 2025 wildfires.

California legislators introduced a bill Saturday that would update the state's wildfire response without shifting liability away from publicly traded utilities.

Andrew Engler, CEO and co-founder of the insurtech, shared that if a property owner is willing to invest in reducing the possibility of a catastrophic loss, it should translate into insurance value.

A plan backed by Democrats in the state senate wouldn't limit insurers from suing utility companies to recoup payouts to policyholders, according to a proposal seen by Bloomberg News on Tuesday.

The new rules, which apply to about 2 million homes, were mandated by a 2020 state law requiring residents in high-risk wildfire areas to establish an ember-resistant perimeter by removing vegetation and other combustible material within five feet of a dwelling.

Tens of thousands of acres have burned in central Oregon and in the Spokane region of eastern Washington.

RockRose plans to perform work such as tree trimming and roof upgrades and use those improvements to negotiate with insurers.

Edison is responsible for the first $1 billion of wildfire-related claims, which it pays using its customer-funded self-insurance program.

Wealthy areas such as Beverly Hills, Malibu and Bel Air make up an increasingly large portion of the liability exposure — a dynamic that experts fear could bankrupt the program and undermine the private market.

Competing philosophies are facing off in California's race for insurance commissioner.

While insurance coverage has broadly kept pace with rising catastrophe exposure, the protection gap — in absolute terms — has gone up as the value of exposed assets has grown, the Swiss Re Institute said on Wednesday.

Predicting natural disasters is becoming more important for banks and insurers as climate change increases their occurrence. Last year's wildfires in Los Angeles killed 31 people, destroyed more than 16,000 structures and caused as much as $131 billion in economic and property losses.

The insurance industry's research organization added 10 more states to the first four in its Wildfire Prepared Home designation program. About 35% of U.S. homes in high wildfire risk areas are not yet eligible.

Alongside a bill that gives homeowners a year of forbearance after state-declared emergencies, lawmakers will consider extending wildfire-related moratoriums.

Researchers examined more than 580,000 municipal bond issues and say the data shows communities with higher wildfire risk pay higher interest rates.

Nationwide names new cyber lead and IBHS expands wildfire prepared program, plus more insurtech news.

"Wildfire risk is not just an occasional catastrophe, but a recurring cost embedded in the state's economy," said the report issued this week by the California Earthquake Authority.

Satellite data is reshaping the way that the insurance industry thinks about risk.

Society of Actuaries appoints new CEO and Delos expands coverage, plus more insurtech news.