How Wildfires Upended California’s Insurance Market

The fires that swept through Los Angeles in January will have deep and long-lasting effects on the state’s already stressed insurance market.

The fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures and resulted in losses of as much as $164 billion, according to an analysis by economists at the University of California, Los Angeles. In February, the state’s leading insurers including State Farm, Travelers and Chubb announced billion-dollar underwriting losses from the fire.