After the destructive wildfires of 2018—not limited to the Camp, Hill and Woolsey fires—hundreds of thousands of Californians immediately looked to their insurance companies for assistance. The result? So far, not all got what they hoped for.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said more than $11.4 billion in insured losses were reported from the November 2018 fires alone as of January, according to an online statement.
In the Los Angeles County area, Malibu is one of 92 communities at risk for wildfires, according to a list compiled with data from 2001 by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for the National Fire Plan (NFP). The NFP was created by the U.S. government in 2000 to address firefighting, rehabilitation, hazardous fuel reduction, community assistance and accountability, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
As recommended by CAL FIRE, Malibu was deemed a “very high fire hazard severity zone.”
This designation forces insurance companies to carefully consider whether or not to insure homeowners.
Though insurance companies won’t be able to immediately increase rates under California law, many sources—including the nonprofit Insurance Information Institute—say it is inevitable, based on the high risk.
As The Malibu Times documented in our stories and letters to the editor, residents have had a hard time securing enough money to cover a variety of variables in rebuilding, not limited to contents coverage, alternative living expenses and actual rebuilding cost (hiring contractors, architects, etc.).
We want to hear from you—let us know what your experience has been like with your insurer by filling out a survey available at bit.ly/TMTSurvey. You can also fill out the physical copy—located on page A7 in the April 18 edition—and email it to editorial@malibutimes.com or bring it to the TMT office (3864 Las Flores Canyon Road). All survey responses will be kept anonymous.
The deadline to submit surveys is May 3.