Fox News contributor Mary Katharine Ham and Zuma Global President Heather Zumarraga discuss California’s lack of resources to fight ‘heartbreaking’ wildfires on ‘Making Money.’
Experts say it is incredibly difficult to determine the time frame when they are victims California wildfires will receive their insurance payments, noting that this can be anywhere from a few weeks to a few years.
Candise Shanbron, managing partner of property damage law firm Cernitz Law, told FOX Business that no one knows how long it will take for residents affected by the fires that have broken out across Los Angeles this week to receive insurance payouts.
Brian Braswell, senior vice president at independent insurance broker The Daniel and Henry Co., said the timing depends in part on the insurance company, existing coverage and policy terms, as well as the volume of the claim.
“Companies are inundated with claims. Imagine you had 100 claims a month and now you have one million,” Braswell said.
Firefighters continue to battle wind and fire as homes burn in Malibu along the Pacific Coast Highway near Carbon Canyon Road in the Palisades Fire on January 8, 2025. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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In addition to the sheer volume of claims being processed, especially during a catastrophic event, Braswell said the complexity of claims can also affect the speed of payouts.
The efficiency of the insurance company’s claims processing system will also be a factor, he added.
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as homes burn on the Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful storm on January 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Braswell estimated that it could last just a few weeks or it could last for years. However, “adjusters are motivated to pay/close claims to get them off the table and onto the next one,” Braswell added.
Shanbron said the process looks different for everyone, even if they’re dealing with the same injury.
For example, insurance companies are “constantly analyzing financial data and calculating how much money they need to have in reserves at any given time in order to reinvest those funds and pay claims,” Shanbron said.
According to Shanbron, this is why certain homeowners will get paid right away, while others with the exact same type of damage from the same loss may not get paid for six months or even years.
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In some cases, they “may simply deny the lawsuit, hoping that nothing will ever come of it, or deny the lawsuit knowing they will eventually be sued, but at least denying it and waiting to file a lawsuit will buy them more time than they need ,” Shanbron said.
Plumes of smoke are seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 7, 2025. (DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
But given the nature of fire losses and the demographics of the area affected by the fires, Shanbron doesn’t believe most insurance companies will “hang out.”
Still, Braswell said victims shouldn’t wait to look at their insurance policy or ask questions and get a check, as “California’s insurance market is already troubled, and it’s about 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 proactive steps victims can take to “potentially make up for the delay.” They include contacting your insurance provider immediately after the damage occurs, providing detailed documentation of the home or business over time, certified before-and-after photos and a general contractor estimate with repair or replacement costs, Lopez said.
