MAJORITY OF OCTOBER FIRE INSURANCE CLAIMS RESOLVED:

A new insurer survey estimates that 84 percent of claims stemming from the devastating October wildfires have been settled. A poll by the Insurance Information Network of California of companies representing more than 66 percent of the homeowners insurance market found that they have paid and completed 10,811 of their 12,902 residential fire claims. To date, those claims have resulted in $751,697,999 worth of claims settlements already paid. Surveyed companies expect those claims to ultimately total $1.26 billion. While the process of assessing contractors’ bids, acquiring building permits and actual rebuilding can sometimes take a year or longer, the survey found that 454 of the 1,935 “total loss” claims—or close to 24 percent—had already been settled. More than 19,100 homeowners, auto and commercial insurance claims were filed following the fires, according to the Insurance Services Office. The organization projects that insured losses from the firestorms will ultimately total $2.04 billion. The survey tallied brushfire-related homeowners insurance claims paid through April 12, 2004. In January, another IINC poll found that surveyed companies had completed 860 of 928 brushfire-related auto insurance claims resulting from the fires for a total of $5.01 million. Auto insurance claims were not surveyed in the most recent poll. With more than 3,500 homes lost to the firestorms, the majority of settled insurance claims are for so-called “partial losses,” or household damage caused by smoke or even firefighting materials.