Reinsurance News
California wildfires
California wildfire related insurance or reinsurance news and analysis. The California wildfire peril is a key exposure of the re/insurance market and an area where risk capital provides meaningful support to help policyholders recover after a wildfire disaster.
Farmers Exchanges projects $600m wildfire loss, reaffirms commitment to California
19th February 2025
The Farmers Exchanges, a group of reciprocal insurers including Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange, and Truck Insurance Exchange, have released initial estimates indicating a $600 million loss from the recent California wildfires. This figure is net of the per-occurrence reinsurance programme and before taxes, excluding Farmers’ portion of FAIR Plan ... Read the full article
Claims paid for California wildfires reach $6.9bn: Commissioner Lara
14th February 2025
As of February 5, 2025, $6.94 billion has been paid out to insurance policyholders in Southern California for residential and commercial claims related to the January wildfires. This figure was provided in the latest update from California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s public consumer claims tracking system. These payouts are helping individuals secure ... Read the full article
Assurant’s California wildfire losses could exceed $150m cat reinsurance retention
14th February 2025
In its outlook for 2025, US specialty insurance group Assurant has reported that its catastrophe losses from the California wildfires are expected to “approach or slightly exceed” its per-event catastrophe reinsurance program retention of $150 million. The firm issued this update on the impact of the Los Angeles wildfires as part ... Read the full article
Collaboration needed to tackle rising nat cat losses: Vickers, Gallagher Re
14th February 2025
As reinsurers navigate the complexities of rising natural catastrophe losses, James Vickers, Chairman of Gallagher Re International, discusses their efforts to support primary insurers while emphasising the need for broader collaboration to ensure risks are managed and priced effectively. In a recent video interview with Reinsurance News, ... Read the full article
Mercury to ‘aggressively pursue subrogation’ for Eaton wildfire: CFO Stalick
13th February 2025
Executives at California-based insurer Mercury General Corporation said yesterday that the company will "aggressively pursue subrogation", particularly for the Eaton Fire, as there's strong evidence utility equipment caused the event. As part of its 2024 earnings release, Mercury provided an update on the Los Angeles wildfires, announcing a gross ... Read the full article
Lancashire anticipates up to $165m in losses from California wildfires
13th February 2025
Lancashire Holdings has estimated its aggregate net ultimate losses from the recent wildfires in California at $145 million to $165 million. According to the firm, this preliminary estimate has been derived from a combination of market data and assumptions, a limited number of provisional loss advice, limited client loss data and ... Read the full article
Mercury puts gross LA wildfire loss at up to $2bn, still undecided on one or two events for reinsurance
12th February 2025
Los Angeles, California-based insurer Mercury General expects gross losses from the January 2025 wildfires to amount to $1.6 billion to $2 billion, and net losses of between $155 million and $325 million, with the insurer yet to decide whether to designate the Palisades and Eaton fires as one or two ... Read the full article
California FAIR Plan gains approval for $1bn assessment from member firms
12th February 2025
The California FAIR Plan Association, a consortium of all insurers licensed to provide property insurance in the state, has received approval for an additional $1 billion in funds from its member companies from Insurance Commissioner, Ricardo Lara, enabling the Plan to continue paying claims after the Los Angeles wildfires. In a ... Read the full article
Aon Securities arranges $500m surplus note for California-based CSAA
12th February 2025
Insurance and reinsurance broker Aon's investment banking and capital markets division, Aon Securities, has structured and placed $500 million surplus notes issued by Northern California insurer CSAA Insurance Exchange, Reinsurance News understands. The $500 million, 8.125% surplus notes, due February 2045, have been assigned a Long-Term Issue Credit Rating of “a-” ... Read the full article
Travelers estimates California wildfire loss at $1.7bn
11th February 2025
Large U.S. primary insurer Travelers has announced its preliminary estimate of catastrophe losses from the January 2025 California wildfires at $1.7 billion before tax ($1.3 billion after tax). The carrier explains that its estimate includes losses from both the personal and commercial segments, including the Fidelis quota share, as well as ... Read the full article
Howden Re calls for public-private collaboration to bridge California’s protection gap
11th February 2025
Following the California wildfires, Howden Re, the global reinsurance, capital markets, and strategic advisory arm of Howden, has released a protection gap-focused report emphasising regulatory reforms, risk-based pricing, enhanced risk mitigation, and public-private collaboration as the "only viable path" to restoring stability in the state's insurance market. As per the report, ... Read the full article
AM Best highlights strain on re/insurers from California wildfires and rising FAIR Plan policies
10th February 2025
AM Best, a credit rating agency specialising in the insurance sector, reports that the recent surge of wildfires across Southern California has deepened existing challenges for insurers, worsening underwriting performance, increasing reinsurance exposure, and destabilising the market. Since January 7, 2025, over 30 wildfires—including the Palisades and Eaton fires—have scorched the ... Read the full article
Insurers have paid $4.2bn in LA wildfire claims: Denni Ritter, APCIA
7th February 2025
As of January 27, 2025, data from the California Department of Insurance reports that insurers have paid out over $4.2 billion, with 31,210 claims filed for the Eaton and Palisades wildfires, according to Denni Ritter, Vice President, State Government Relations at American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA). This data includes payments ... Read the full article
ZestyAI’s Z-FIRE model gains approval for California wildfire risk assessment
6th February 2025
ZestyAI, a provider of AI-driven climate and property risk analytics, announced that Z-FIRE, its advanced wildfire risk model, is now filing-ready in California. Under the Pre-Application Required Information Determination (PRID) process, which focuses on catastrophe load factor models, Z-FIRE can continue to be filed for rate segmentation and underwriting without further ... Read the full article
Allstate expects $900m in reinsurance recoveries from LA wildfires
6th February 2025
U.S. primary insurer Allstate has estimated that its gross losses from the Los Angeles, California wildfires will be $2 billion, and after reinsurance recoveries of $900 million under its per-occurrence tower, the firm is projecting a net loss of $1.1 billion from the event. The insurer's LA wildfire loss estimate comes ... Read the full article
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