Natural disasters, fueled at least in part by climate change, cost the United States $91 billion in 2018, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A federal judge who has emerged as a vocal critic of PG&E Corp.’s safety record, said the California utility giant has a “clear-cut pattern” of starting wildfires and needs “strong medicine” put in place before this year’s season begins.
A little more than three months after Hurricane Michael smashed through parts of Northwest Florida, estimated insured losses have topped $5 billion, according to numbers posted Monday on the state Division of Elections website.
Bay County’s Hurricane Michael insurance claims have risen in recent weeks, helping push total losses to more than $4.8 billion in Florida, according to the latest state Office of Insurance Regulation report.
State Farm will continue to use drones in its insurance operations. The insurer was granted a first-of-its-kind national waiver by the Federal Aviation Administration that will allow drone operations over people and flights beyond a pilot’s visual line of sight through November 2022.
German insurance company Munich Re says the Northern California wildfire that killed dozens of people and burned down the town of Paradise was the world’s costliest single natural disaster in 2018.
With the number of claims continuing to increase, estimated insured losses from October’s Hurricane Michael have topped $4.65 billion, according to information posted on the state Office of Insurance Regulation website.
Long before the Camp fire raced through Northern California, claiming at least 86 lives and all but erasing the Gold Rush town of Paradise, state law required the three big power monopolies to file detailed strategies to prevent wildfires.
The risks associated with disasters extend far beyond the initial destruction. For insurers, disaster damage assessment and claims processing can pose both significant financial risk as well as introduce personal risks for claims inspection teams.
Insurance claims from the recent spate of California wildfires, including one ranked as the most deadly and destructive in state history, have topped $9 billion and are expected to grow, the state insurance commissioner reported on Wednesday.
Insurance claims and cleanup costs associated with California wildfires last month are expected to exceed the record-breaking amounts paid out last year after blazes ripped through the state’s wine country.
The Camp Fire, which killed at least 88 people in Northern California, was started by faulty steel rings high atop an electric company’s transmission tower which brought dangerous live wires crashing down, a lawsuit claimed on Thursday.
There needs to be a hybrid system of self-regulation in concert with regulatory discipline to handle interprovincial mobility issues for independent adjusters, says the president and CEO of an independent adjusting firm.
