$11.4 billion in insurance claims filed after November’s California wildfires - San Francisco Chronicle

California residents battered by November’s catastrophic wildfires have filed 46,000 damage claims with their insurance companies, totaling an extraordinary $11.4 billion, according to new estimates by the state Department of Insurance.

The figures released Monday stem primarily from the Camp Fire in Butte County, which killed 86 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes, and Southern California’s Woolsey Fire, which claimed three lives and leveled hundreds of homes.

The tally also underscores the pains of recovery. Insurance companies are processing unprecedented numbers of payment applications as whole communities, like Butte County’s Paradise, seek to rebuild. Pacific Gas and Electric Co., already faced with crushing liability after being blamed for several fires in recent years, could see its indebtedness grow as the level of loss becomes clearer.

The claims from the November fires represent about 13,000 insured homes and businesses, according to the Insurance Department.

“Today, we have a clearer picture of the loss from the devastating Camp and Woolsey fires,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, in a statement. “To the residents of Paradise, Butte, Malibu, Los Angeles and the other communities who have lost so much, we stand with you on the long road to recovery.”

In December, the agency offered a slightly lower estimate of November’s insured losses, about $9 billion, a total that has jumped as claims have continued to come in.

Following the fires, the Insurance Department issued a formal notice to insurers asking them to expedite payment of claims.

The fires in the fall of 2017, which wreaked havoc on Sonoma and Napa counties as well as Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, prompted 45,000 insurance claims totaling $11.79 billion. Those blazes destroyed 32,000 homes, 4,300 businesses and more than 8,200 vehicles, boats and other equipment.

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander

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