california

Bermudian reinsurance firm and third-party reinsurance capital manager RenaissanceRe put out a warning that it expects the California wildfires to result in a financial impact to the firm that will be “significant and could be material” which could suggest some of its third-party capital vehicles may also be exposed.

Catastrophe risk modelling firm RMS has estimated the economic costs of the wildfires in the wine region of California as between $6 billion and $8 billion, explaining that the high penetration rates of wildfire insurance coverage means that the industry loss is expected to be similar.

Catastrophe risk modelling specialist AIR Worldwide has issued an estimate of insurance and reinsurance industry losses from wildfires in the northern areas of California, saying that the bill for the sector is likely to be from $2 billion to as much as $3 billion.

Early estimates for the bill facing the insurance and reinsurance industry from the devastating California wildfire outbreaks are coming in around a range from $5 billion to $8 billion, according to executives at Aon Benfield.

The economic costs of the devastating wildfires that have hit California in recent weeks has continued to rise, with the latest estimate from the local government suggesting that around 8,400 structures, largely homes, have now been completely destroyed by the blazes.

The Insurance Commission of California has released preliminary insured loss data on the devastating California wildfires, putting the figure at $1.045 billion, so far, with an expectation that this will rise as the claims process continues.

The Northern California wildfires that started on Sunday, October 8th, could drive insurance industry losses of $4.6 billion or higher, adding further pressure to the profitability of the property & casualty (P&C) industry following an active third-quarter, says Moody’s.

California wildfires have put billions of dollars of property at risk and spread further over the weekend as strong winds and dry weather fanned flames. Latest estimates suggest that at least 5,700 structures, largely homes, have been completely destroyed.

Red flag warnings have been raised for a severe risk of spreading wildfires in the northern California region today, an area where insurance and reinsurance interests are particularly exposed to fire damage and the current wildfires are putting as much as $65 billion of property value at risk.

Wildfires burning in the California counties of Napa, Sonoma and Yuba, the heart of the wine region, are now believed to have completely destroyed more than 1,500 structures, which makes these wildfires one of the most destructive on record in the state.