Fox News Contributor Mary Katharine Ham and Global Zuma President Heather Zumarraga discuss California’s ‘heartbreaking’ lack of resources to fight wildfires ‘To Make Money.’
Experts say it is very difficult to gauge a timeline for when victims of the California wildfires will receive their insurance payouts, noting that it could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few years.
Candace Shanbron, who runs the property damage law firm, Cernitz Law, told FOX Business, that no one knows how long it will take before the residents affected by the fire, which broke out this week in Los Angeles, will see insurance payments.
Brian Braswell, senior vice president at private insurer Daniel and Henry Co., said the timing depends, in part, on the insurance company, existing coverage and policy terms and claims volume.
“Companies are inundated with requests for applications. Imagine you had 100 applications a month, now you have a million,” said Braswell.
Firefighters continue to battle winds and flames as houses go up in flames in Malibu along Pacific Coast Highway near Carbon Canyon Road in the Palisades Fire on Jan. 8, 2025. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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Despite the high volume of claims handled, especially during a crisis, Braswell said the complexity of the claim may affect the speed of payment.
The efficiency of the insurance company’s claims processing system will also be a factor, he added.
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire while burning homes on Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful storm on Jan. 8, 2025, Los Angeles, California. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images/Getty)
Braswell estimated it could be a few weeks or extend to years. However, “fixers are incentivized to pay/close claims to get them off the table and onto the next one,” Braswell added.
Shanbron said the plan looks different for everyone, even if they’re dealing with the same damage.
For example, insurance companies “constantly analyze financial data and calculate how much money they need to have in reserves at any given time for purposes of reinvesting those funds and paying claims,” Shanbron said.
According to Shanbron, this is the reason that some homeowners will be paid immediately, while others with the same type of damage from the same loss may not be paid for six months or even years.
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In some cases, “they may simply deny the claim, hoping nothing will come of it, or deny the claim knowing they will end up being sued, but at least denying and waiting for the lawsuit to be filed will buy them the extra time they need,” said Shanbron.
A plume of smoke is seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, California, on Jan. 7, 2025. (DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
But given both the nature of the fire loss and the population of the area affected by the fire, Shanbron doesn’t believe many insurance companies will “drag their feet.”
Still, Braswell said victims shouldn’t wait to check their insurance or ask questions and get a check, as “California’s insurance market is already in trouble, and it’s only going to get worse.”
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Anthony Lopez, CEO of Your Insurance Attorney, told FOX Business that while the timeline may be affected by several challenges, there are concrete steps victims can take “to address potential delays.” It includes contacting your insurance provider immediately after the damage, providing detailed documentation of the home or business over time, stamped before and after photos and an estimate from a general contractor detailing the cost of repairs or replacements, Lopez said.
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