Aon Benfield report claims California wildfire bill could hit $8bn
Aon Benfield’s Global Catastrophe Recap report for October has claimed that the widespread wildfires that ravaged parts of California this autumn could become the costliest insured wildfire in history.
Almost two-dozen fires broke out in the State, the most notable one being the Central LNU Complex Fire around the town of Santa Rosa. When aggregated together they have been described as the most damaging event on record in the state. The wildfires killed at least 43 people and injured 185 others.
According to CalFire, nearly 9,300 structures were damaged, of which more than 8,560 were destroyed. The counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Solano, Butte, and Yuba counties saw some of the worst damage being reported.
The California Department of Insurance has stated that at least 19,000 residential, commercial and auto claims had already been filed with payouts exceeding $3.32 billion. This total was expected to rise to as high as $8.0 billion as additional claims are processed. On aggregated basis, this is costliest insured wildfire event ever recorded, according to the report.
