Insurance claims from wildfires nearing $12 billion

State residents have filed 45,000 insurance claims to recoup close to $12 billion in losses from the wildfires in Northern and Southern California in October and December, state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said Wednesday.

The claims illustrate the extent of the devastation in what are the costliest fires in state history, Jones said.

“Whole neighborhoods were wiped out, as winddriven flames destroyed thousands of homes, upended tens of thousands of residents’ lives and tragically killed more than 45 people across the state,” Jones said.

The claims reflect the loss of more than 32,000 homes, 4,300 businesses and 8,200 cars, trucks, watercraft, farm vehicles and other equipment, Jones said.

The claims include those from the Wine Country fires in October as well as the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara county fires in December.

From the October fires, there are nearly 30,000 claims for a total value of $10 billion. In Southern California, the December fires have resulted in 13,300 claims totaling nearly $1.8 billion.

The number does not include losses from the Jan. 6 mudslide in Montecito (Santa Barbara County), in which at least 21 people died after the fires had burned away vegetation that would normally hold the soil in place. The claims process for that disaster is still in the early stages, Jones said.

Jones said the state is asking insurers to waive requirements that disaster claimants submit a detailed home inventory to recoup their losses. The requirements force victims to relive the “emotionally grueling loss of their most cherished possessions,” he said.