By Scott Vincent

Jan 22 - (The Insurer) - Verisk has estimated insured losses from the Palisades and Eaton wildfires at between $28bn and $35bn, which includes losses to the California Fair Plan.

The Palisades Fire accounts for $20bn to $25bn of the total, with losses from the Eaton Fire expected to total $8bn to $10bn.

Verisk said the majority of losses will be for residential risks, although the estimate also includes commercial and industrial properties and automobiles.

Buildings, contents and time element coverages are included in the total, which also factors in the cost of demand surge, debris removal and expected take-up rates.

Smoke damage is not included in the estimate, which also excludes damage from other fires taking place in the state over the past month.

Losses exacerbated by litigation, fraudulent assignment of benefits or social inflation are also not included.

Verisk said losses from debris removal would likely be “non-trivial” given the number of properties destroyed by the fires.

Rival modelling firm Moody’s RMS estimated insured losses for the two events at between $20bn and $30bn in a range published at the end of last week.

The Moody’s RMS Event Response estimate includes losses from property damage, including evacuation and smoke damage, business interruption and additional living expenses across residential, commercial and industrial lines.

The estimate also includes losses to the California Fair Plan, which had more than $112bn exposure, or 23 percent of its portfolio, in Los Angeles County as of 30 September 2024.

Property analytics firm CoreLogic had previously estimated a residential and commercial insured loss for the Eaton and Palisades fires of between $35bn and $45bn.