How Wildfires Upended California’s Insurance Market: QuickTake

With the fires in Los Angeles still burning, the cost of their destruction, beyond the lives lost, remains unknown, but is certain to total in the tens of billions of dollars.

The question of whether funds to rebuild homes will be adequate has become a key concern. That’s because in the years before the fires, a pullback by major insurance companies from the city’s housing market left California’s badly overexposed state-backed insurer, FAIR, as the only financial backstop for many homeowners. Others lack insurance at all.

Here’s what to know about the looming insurance crisis Los Angeles homeowners are facing. ...