Dave Jones Offers Genuine Support To Sufferers Of Wildfire Losses In California
By Lonce Lamonte and the California Department of Insurance - November 28, 2018
A week ago, on November 21st 2018, media reports stated the Camp fire that devastated Paradise, California and its near-by areas plus the Woolsey fire that brutalized Malibu and Thousand Oaks would produce an estimated 7 billion dollars in losses to the insurance industry. It was reported then that 81 persons were dead as a result of the Camp fire and 870 persons were missing. 3 persons died as a consequence of the Woolsey fire.
Today, November 28th 2018, 90 people are reported dead as a consequence of the Camp fire with 158 still missing. And the estimates of losses to the insurance industry have increased to 15 billion dollars plus as the consequence of both fires.
As of three days ago, November 25th, the Camp fire reached 100% containment. The Woolsey fire was contained days earlier.
The Camp fire began on November 8th 2018. This was the same day as the tragedy of a mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. Borderline is a fun, popular, country-western bar near the 101 and 23 freeways where country-western line-dancing is an ever-present pastime. 12 people died at the hands of a shooter who was an ex-Marine who is believed to have been suffering from PTSD. The count of 12 includes the shooter himself, Ian David Long.
This double-whammy that hit Thousand Oaks on the same day has been crushing to the affluent Ventura County location.
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones encouraged property insurers to facilitate the process for insureds in both the Malibu-Thousand Oaks areas and in Butte county for filing their claims. Many insureds likely lost their paperwork for their property insurance policies in the fires.
The California Department of Insurance now has an online property insurance locator form to help survivors and their assistants find homeowner or renter insurance policies.
The result of Senator Bill Monning’s SB 569, which was supported by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, the new tool was introduced after Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law last year with an effective date of January 2018.
“Wildfire survivors and family members who lost loved ones in such tragic circumstances are already facing overwhelming emotions and an almost insurmountable road to recovery,” said Dave Jones in a statement on November 21, 2018. “Senator Monning’s bill created a sensible easy-to-use online tool to help wildfire survivors and family members start the recovery process. I was pleased to support his effort.”
The service is available to property owners or the owner’s legal representative if the property was damaged or destroyed in an area designated as a disaster by the President of the U.S. or the Governor, and the property insurance policy cannot be located and they do not know or cannot recall the name of the insurer that issued the policy.
Department of Insurance representatives will forward the information provided to insurance companies licensed in California who will search their records to determine if the property was insured. The company will contact the insured or their representative directly if they locate a policy that was in force at the time of disaster. This service is free of charge.
lonce@adjustercom.com; Lonce Lamonte, journalist
adjustercom and the California Department of Insurance - www.insurance.ca.gov | 
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