The War Against Wildfires
The One with the Best Information Wins
The War Against Wildfires
Information is the key
Generally, the most successful person in life is the one who will have the best information, and I believe that will be the case when the fire damage repair process begins, not only in Southern California, but in the whole State. After all, the team with the best offense, will also have the best defense.
This article will be a question-and-answer session. The questions are based upon the fire damage repair issues that have been asked since I started in the claims business.
Question #1:
My home is insured by the California FAIR Plan at this time, due to my insurance company leaving California, will there be enough funds to cover the cost of repair?
Answer#1:
The following is important information obtained concerning the net financial situation of the FAIR Plan:
The New York Times, late in January of this year reported that the Los Angeles fires may be that linchpin that will break and result in dire consequences for the Los Angeles economy due to not having funds to pay outstanding claims.
California Senator Alex Padilla’s office indicated “that funds on hand to pay claims amounted to $377 million with a potential to reimburse policyholders an estimated $30 billion dollars.” That total has now risen to a potential of $35 billion dollars.
The following information is provided by Cal Fire for 2024, does not even consider the first weeks of January 2025, which shows us how deeply underwater we are concerning the financial relationship between the California Government and Property Insurance companies attempting to sell their policies to Home and Business owners:
Wildfires Confirmed for 2024-----------------------8,024
Acres Burned in California 2024-------------1,050,012
Buildings Damaged 2024------------------------------432
Buildings Destroyed----------------------------------1,716
Fatalities by the Grace of God-------------------------(1)
As a former long-time Claims Adjuster, I see the above information provided by Cal Fire as important, due to the fact it indicates a concerted effort by what I have come to refer to as Pyro-Terrorism in this State. I see these as acts of political warfare, not to kill and defeat an opposing army, but to scare and frighten.
Immediate Actions to Take
One thing I believe the current California Government should do is to mandate that each Property Carrier in this state thoroughly investigate and evaluate the cause and extent of the fire damage to their policyholder’s property using a qualified arson inspection team and report the findings to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for prosecution of the responsible parties.
I also believe that California should form what I call the CWPA, or the California Works Progress Administration, modeled after the organization active at the end of the depression era in this country.
The Administration would be funded to visit homes still standing within each county and complete a defensive program of cleaning vegetation from buildings still standing as well as to cut limbs which extend over a roof. In addition, cutting weeds for fire damage control.
Question#2:
What is Co-Insurance, and does my Homeowner policy sell it? Also does my Commercial policy sell it?
Answer#2:
Co-Insurance was a feature of some of the Homeowner, and Commercial Policy forms in the early 1960’s and it gave the policy holder as much as a 20% break on the premium. But guess what, that insured advantage has been removed, along with other potential benefits for California insureds. The following list shows the Insurance Companies no longer offering the co-insurance coverage: Farmers Insurance Group, State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, and American National. In my next article I will explain the extra burden no longer having the co-insurance coverage presents.
Respectfully submitted,
Norman Lambe
nwlambe@gmail.com