Out-of-control wildfires burning across the Los Angeles area continued Friday morning, destroying at least 10,000 structures and causing estimated fire damage over $150 billion. Meteorologists have issued warnings for “critical red flag” conditions throughout the day, signaling that fire damage to homes and businesses will broaden into the weekend.
Insurance companies are bracing for the worst-case scenario as analysts at JPMorgan said Thursday that insured losses could top $20 billion.
JPM’s Jimmy Bhullar said insured loss estimates could be revised even higher “if the fires are not controlled.”
Bhullar said losses would be “confined mostly” to homeowners insurers like Allstate, Travelers, and Chubb, but noted that commercial property insurers like American International Group and Kinsale Capital Group could also be exposed.
Shares of Allstate dropped 5% in premarket trading, while Travelers fell 4%, Chubb -4%, AIG -3.5%, and Kinsale -1%.
The insurance company up to a week before the fire were canceling homeowners fire coverage! What Did They Know????
I don’t feel sorry for the insurance companies, they should pay but most likely will leave town bankrupt or not pay the full amount
20 billion in losses? Huh? More like several hundred billion in losses. There is massive devastation in this area now--and the fires continue to rage unabated.