Advocate answers questions about home insurance and wildfire recovery
Advocate answers questions about home insurance and wildfire recovery

After the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire destroyed and damaged thousands of homes across Los Angeles County, residents are being forced to navigate the complicated landscape of home and renter insurance. ABC7 Eyewitness News received dozens of questions about home insurance and wildfire recovery. Anchor…
Updated CalFire map shows increase in ‘very high’ fire hazard acreage in Northern California
Updated CalFire map shows increase in ‘very high’ fire hazard acreage in Northern California

CalFire released a new map this week, expanding hazardous fire zones in Northern California. It’s part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order after the Los Angeles fires. Updated for the first time since 2007, CalFire’s new fire hazard severity zone map offers a resource in…
Insurers’ values determine claims denials more than AI
Insurers’ values determine claims denials more than AI

Using AI to deny property and casualty insurance claims or settle them for less may not be clear cut, and could be done by analyzing other aspects of a claim, like the claimant’s personal finances. “From the advent of things like data mining, AI, risk…
Home insurance was already hard to get. Then came L.A.’s fires. Here’s what San Diegans need to know.
Home insurance was already hard to get. Then came L.A.’s fires. Here’s what San Diegans need to know.

Amid expected fire losses in the billions of dollars, here’s a primer on how to navigate the San Diego County insurance market and new regulations aimed at keeping carriers from leaving. Read more
Paralyzed by heaps of post-fire paperwork? Here are 8 tips to get started
Paralyzed by heaps of post-fire paperwork? Here are 8 tips to get started

Wildfire victims face heaps of bureaucratic paperwork, including insurance claims, loan applications and requests for FEMA assistance. Completing such forms can be time-consuming and overwhelming. We spoke to psychologists and insurance experts for tips on how to get through it. With containment of the Palisades…
How Will L.A. Rebuild? The Recovery From the Wine Country Fire Offers Clues.
How Will L.A. Rebuild? The Recovery From the Wine Country Fire Offers Clues.

The Tubbs fire in 2017 wiped out more than 5,000 structures in a Northern California county. Homeowners faced challenges, but hundreds were able to rebuild within two years. Donna and Bob Williamson call the strange souvenirs pulled from the ashes of their home their Museum…
The best way to claim insurance if you lost your home or business in the Los Angeles wildfires
The best way to claim insurance if you lost your home or business in the Los Angeles wildfires

More than 6,000 structures have been destroyed in Southern California this week after wildfires, fanned by brutal Santa Ana winds, ripped through multiple neighborhoods of greater Los Angeles. The affected home and business owners are preparing for a tough recovery ahead, one that is likely…
Bay Area agency works to help Southern California fire victims recover
Bay Area agency works to help Southern California fire victims recover

A Bay Area-based agency is stepping up to help those impacted by the deadly and destructive Southern California wildfires. After the Fire USA, based in Sonoma, is already getting to work in the Los Angeles area. CEO Jennifer Gray Thompson said the nonprofit group works…
How the wildfires in Los Angeles area could affect California’s home insurance market
How the wildfires in Los Angeles area could affect California’s home insurance market

The wildfires that destroyed homes in multiple sections of the Los Angeles area will test California’s efforts to stabilize the state’s insurance marketplace after many insurers stopped issuing residential policies due to the high fire risk. The wind-driven blazes that started Tuesday roared through neighborhoods…
Experts warn CA homeowners insurance premiums could spike in wake of SoCal wildfires
Experts warn CA homeowners insurance premiums could spike in wake of SoCal wildfires

Part of the governor’s state of emergency includes an insurance non-renewal moratorium. The state’s insurance commissioner told our colleagues at KABC Wednesday that he’s working on protecting homeowners in the affected areas from being dropped by their insurer for one year. It’s raising serious questions…
An insurance crisis was already brewing in L.A. Then the fires hit.
An insurance crisis was already brewing in L.A. Then the fires hit.

In July, as California sweltered through its hottest month in history, the state’s biggest insurance company stopped providing home insurance to more than a thousand homeowners in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Tucked into the fire-prone hillsides on the city’s Westside, the neighborhood…
Changes to insurance may affect those impacted by Los Angeles area wildfires
Changes to insurance may affect those impacted by Los Angeles area wildfires

On this segment of Ask an Expert, we’re discussing the insurance implications of the devastating wildfires burning in Southern California. This as private insurance companies have canceled hundreds of policies in wildfire-prone areas and the state’s FAIR plan takes on more policies. To answer those…
California fires intensify scrutiny on strained home insurance market
California fires intensify scrutiny on strained home insurance market

The fires raging in the Los Angeles area have many people asking what impact it could have on California’s home insurance market. That’s because – in recent years – most of the state’s biggest property insurers have paused or limited business in California, citing the…
Got insurance? Tips for homeowners affected by Southern California wildfires
Got insurance? Tips for homeowners affected by Southern California wildfires

At least six wildfires (Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia, Sunset, and Woodley) have forced California residents to flee from their homes, resulting in death, injuries, and property destruction. Officials and consumer advocates offer advice for residents with insurance questions and related issues in the aftermath of…
Los Angeles wildfires could make insurance crisis worse
Los Angeles wildfires could make insurance crisis worse

The recent wildfires in Los Angeles could become the most expensive series of wildfires in California’s history, not due to the number of homes lost, but because of the high value of the properties affected, experts say. AccuWeather released a preliminary estimate this week, putting…
What California homeowners should know about filing an insurance claim for fire damage
What California homeowners should know about filing an insurance claim for fire damage

As deadly wildfires engulf swaths of Los Angeles County, forcing nearly 200,000 people from their houses, a still-to-be known number of residents will be contending with insurance claims to recoup losses and rebuild or repair their homes. For those looking to be treated fairly and…
California overhauled its insurance system. Then Los Angeles caught fire.
California overhauled its insurance system. Then Los Angeles caught fire.

On Tuesday, after a ferocious Santa Ana windstorm blew through Southern California, a severe brush fire broke out in the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, burning at least 1,000 structures and forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate as of Thursday morning.…
Los Angeles Fires Burn Down Thousands Of Homes: Here Is How You Can Claim Insurance
Los Angeles Fires Burn Down Thousands Of Homes: Here Is How You Can Claim Insurance

Multiple wildfires have been ravaging Los Angeles County since Tuesday, resulting in at least five deaths and thousands of residents being displaced. Authorities called for more mass evacuations on Wednesday after hundreds of structures were destroyed. Now, locals are seeking insurance for their property loss.…