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Residents’ Insurance Options Shrink
The Wall Street Journal|January 14, 2025
A shrinking California insurance market will leave Los Angeles-area residents more dependent on a patchwork of federal programs, charitable aid, and savings to rebuild lives devastated by the most expensive fire in U.S. history.
- HEATHER GILLERS
Residents’ Insurance Options Shrink

The blaze that has swept through one of America's wealthiest shorelines racked up more than $50 billion in losses. The recovery will take years, and some residents might simply sell the land beneath their former homes.

Insurance should cover about $20 billion of the fire's losses, JPMorgan Chase estimates.

Banks typically require homeowners with mortgages to insure the full value of their homes. Some landlords also require policies. But some renters and homeowners carry little or no insurance; 12% of homeowners in the U.S. don't buy home insurance, according to a 2023 survey by the Insurance Information Institute and the reinsurer Munich Re. Insurance is less common in mobile-home parks, such as the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates, destroyed in the fire last week.

This story is from the January 14, 2025 edition of The Wall Street Journal.

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Residents’ Insurance Options Shrink
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This story is from the January 14, 2025 edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

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