Coverage a Hot Issue After California Fires
Updated: The fires sweeping much of Southern California this week, causing, at last report, an estimated $500 million in insured losses, have made homeowner insurance coverage a hot issue.
Although the language of one’s individual homeowner’s policy is critical, certain insurance coverage is often standard, according to the Los Angeles Times. For example, many policies cover so-called replacement value of the home—but may pay to replace what was there rather than meet current building code requirements. “If your house is more than 20 years old, check your policy to see whether it covers building code upgrades. If not, it can be added,” the newspaper suggests. It also notes that the Federal Emergency Management Agency may provide low-cost loans to help homeowners whose insurance is inadequate.
Even for those fortunate enough not to be facing immediate insurance issues, now might be a good time to review coverage concerns. Some of the newspaper’s recommendations—such as compiling an inventory of covered belongings—obviously are much more easily accomplished before a fire than afterward. (To save time, it may be easier to video the home rather than list the inventory on paper.) And, once an inventory is compiled, a copy should be put in a safe deposit box or left with a relative or friend who doesn’t live in the area, the Times notes.
The wildfires, which have been raging since the weekend, have scorched over 420,000 acres in seven California counties, according to the latest Los Angeles Times coverage. They have reportedly destroyed at least 1,600 buildings, most of them homes, and forced the evacuation of an estimated 700,000 people. At present, they do not appear close to being contained.
Exacerbated by Santa Ana winds and an unusually dry season that has made the already dangerous underbrush that surrounds many Southern California homes even more flammable, conditions reportedly are as bad as they have ever been. “We have more houses burning than we have people and engine companies to fight them,” says San Diego Fire Captain Lisa Blake. “A lot of people are going to lose their homes today,” she told the LA Times, as reported in an earlier article.
So far, six people reportedly have died: two as a direct result of the fires, and four others as a result of being evacuated. Several dozen firefighters and civilians have been injured. Both President Bush and Governor Schwarzenegger have declared states of emergency.
New York Times (“California Fires Force 500,000 From Homes”)
Los Angeles Times (“Insurers roll even before smoke clears”)
(Updated at 7:53 p.m., CDT.)
