At least 29 people are believed to be dead and more than a dozen others remain unaccounted for as multiple wildfires rage across Southern California.

Rep. Mike Thompson and a Santa Rosa survivor of the 2017 Tubbs Fire help victims of the Los Angeles blazes deal with destruction and insurance issues.

California’s insurer of last resort reported that claims now are high enough to trigger “reinsurance” payments from back-up providers.

The legislation would permit a state government conduit issuer to sell bonds to bolster the last-resort FAIR Plan in the wake of Los Angeles-area wildfires.

The recent outbreak of fires in Los Angeles (LA) have amounted to an estimated economic loss of $250 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in United States (U.S.) history. The fires first spread through neighborhoods in Pacific Palisades,

Insurance companies have paid out $4.2 billion in claims so far to survivors of the Los Angeles County fires, the state Insurance Department said Thursday.

More than 30,000 insurance claims have been filed after the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires, according to the new tracker.

INSURANCE PAYOUT: Insurance companies have already paid out $4.2 billion in claims related to the Palisades and Eaton fires, according to California’s Insurance Department. That covers only payments intended for immediate assistance, like rental housing, and not yet the cost of debris removal and rebuilding.

For decades, California's byzantine insurance regulations effectively forced insurers to subsidize people living in wildfire-prone areas. With the recent

CalMatters reports on the alarming issue of home development in highly flammable areas in the state of California.

Insurance companies have already paid $4.2 billion claims to survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires, according to the California Department of Insurance. The figure, current as of Jan. 27, includes the costs of evacuation expenses and advance payments for lost personal belongings — it doesn’t reflect the additional billions insurers are expected to pay once debris removal and rebuilding begin.

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