California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara advises residents affected by the wildfires on reimbursement options, insurance coverage for evacuation expenses, and steps to take if they are uninsured.
The wildfires burning across Southern California have destroyed thousands of homes and led to the evacuations of entire neighborhoods, coming during an uncertain time in the California insurance market.If your property was damaged or if you needed to evacuate, the state wants to hear from you to answer questions and walk you through the process.
California's insurance commissioner walks fire victims through next steps Ricardo Lara has tips on reimbursement options, what renters and business owners should know, what to do if you're not insured and how to watch for scams.Many homeowners are aware of coverage for their personal property, but evacuation-related expenses could fall under your policy too. “Residents under mandatory evacuation because of these wildfires could be eligible for evacuation-related expenses and reimbursements under the current insurance policy,” Ricardo Lara, California's state insurance commissioner, said in an interview with LAist's AirTalk program.Make sure to cover all your bases by getting a copy of your full policy and holding onto all the records and receipts that you have – and if you haven’t been keeping track, start now.Renters and business insurance policies may include coverage for disaster relief and evacuation-related expenses, so the above recommendations still apply. And even if you weren’t insured, state insurers still want to hear from you, especially if your policy was not renewed or if you were unable to afford coverage. “Each individual case is different,” Lara said. “This is why, no matter if you've been non-renewed, if you don't have coverage, call our office so we can be able to assess you in your individual situation.” To check your eligibility and figure out a plan, you can call the same hotline, 1-800-927-4357, between Monday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. One big unknown at the moment is if and how Los Angeles insurance rates will be affected by the wildfires. The state’s insurance reforms are still new and untested — and the fires are sure to be costly for private insurers, which may in turn lead to If you’re in an area that is prone to fire, Lara recommends taking pictures of your property beforehand to ensure proper documentation (if you don’t have them already). “That's something good for any homeowner to keep in mind, just to do that even before the threat of a fire, so you have that stored and available should you suffer any loss,” Lara said. Of course, personal safety comes before the safety of your home and belongings. Make sure you have an emergency bag with food and supplies. Find more tipswhen it comes to text, email and phone scams. Make sure to input any personal, banking, or insurance information somewhere verifiable, like a secured website, and be especially wary of anyone cold-calling you to ask for your information. If someone purporting to be an insurance agent calls you, try to call them back at a number you can verify. “The last thing I want is people making rushed decisions under duress, under this trauma,” Lara said. “We're here to help them.”Lara recommended being especially wary of fraud from out-of-state insurance adjusters that may make false promises or skirt California’s protections for consumers.Evacuation terms can be confusing. Here’s what they mean and how to sign up for alertsWhat to do — and not do — when you get home after a wildfire Your donation will power local paywall-free reporting for our community. Donate for the first time or increase your monthly donation to have a positive impact for independent and trusted journalism.Following scathing audit, LA County supervisor proposes moving homeless services under direct county control The audit's findings highlight long-standing issues at LAHSA and raise new questions about how large pools of public money are being spent.UCLA offers proposal to stay on VA campus after being locked out of baseball stadium A judge ordered the school, along with other tenants on the West L.A. Veterans’ Affairs campus, to increase its commitments to supporting veterans or face eviction.The $1M house at heart of Orange County civil fraud allegations says a ton about SoCal real estate One LAist reader responded to the latest story in our ongoing Andrew Do investigation by asking,'Which is more disgusting: the fraud or the fact that a starter home is costing 1 million these days?'In escalating fight, Newsom takes away defiant Norwalk’s ability to kill large housing projects The “Builder’s Remedy” is coming to Norwalk after the city defied state officials and extended a ban on homeless shelters.Behind the LA zoning commission recommendation to leave 72% of city zoned for single-family homes New rules will have to be approved by L.A. City Council members by February as the city faces a mandate to plan for more than 450,000 new homes by 2029. Areas of the city zoned for single-family homes are in hot pink.At LA’s infamous Cecil Hotel, formerly unhoused tenants report a plague of problems The iconic Skid Row building went from the true crime spotlight to homeless housing. But some residents wonder if they were better off before moving in.Science isn't boring, and other lessons from a teen internship ‘We f***ing started a fire’: Orange County records document missteps by officials leading up to devastating Airport Fir
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