Wildfire Insurance Claims

From help with understanding your insurance policy, to answering the most important questions about property damage insurance claims, Claim Guide’s Licensed Public Adjusters provide free information that all home and business owners deserve to know about wildfire claims.

Property Damage from Wildfires

Destructive wildfires move quickly and forcefully. The resulting smoke can contain volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, and toxins such as formaldehyde. These substances can infiltrate and cause damage to building materials even when physical structures don’t visually appear to be damaged.

Smoke Damage Claim

Smoke Damage Coverage generally
depends on:

1. Your specific policy language.
2. Whether the smoke caused direct physical loss or damage to property.
3. Proper testing and evaluation.

Disputes Arising Out of Smoke Damage Claims

2 main reasons:

The carrier’s mishandling of the claim.

Improper testing by unlicensed, predatory entities.

The reasons above are closely related. Following wildfire catastrophes, insurance carriers become so overburdened by the amount of smoke claims that are submitted improperly, they can fail to diligently pursue a thorough, fair, and objective investigation as required under current California law.