The High Park and Waldo Canyon fires will cost insurers at least $449.7 million dollars. That’s according to a report released by the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, an industry trade group.
The group’s Executive Director Carol Walker says insurance adjusters are still working with residents and many claims remain incomplete.
“Claim numbers will likely go but it’s a good first snapshot of where we are in terms of insured losses for these two major fires”
The High Park firenear Fort Collins destroyed 259 homes. So far, 850 insurance claims have been filed and insurance costs are estimated at $97.1 million.
“It has been a devastating season but certainly not anything the insurance industry can’t bear. The good news in all this devastation is that, if you have insurance, wildfire is something that’s covered in a standard homeowners, renters or business insurance policy.”
These preliminary figures also indicate that the Waldo Canyon fire will be the most expensive in state history in terms of insured losses. To date, 4,300 claims have been filed totaling $352.6 million.
“We are really just at the start of this process. Up to a year down the road to get a final idea of total insured losses will be.”
These estimates do not include commercial losses.
The Four Mile Canyon fire near Boulder that destroyed 160 homes in 2010 was previously the most expensive in Colorado’s history in terms of insured losses reaching $224 million when adjusted for inflation in today’s dollars.
