Insurance claims for the record breaking wildfire have now reached billions of dollars.
Three major insurance companies have filed a Camp Fire lawsuit against PG&E as a result of the billions of dollars in claims they are expecting.
The lawsuit is only the latest major challenge PG&E faces due to the massive Californian wildfire.
The insurance companies that have each filed a Camp Fire lawsuit against PG&E include Allstate Insurance Co, State Farm, and USAA. PG&E has already confessed that it was aware of a high voltage transmission tower close to the place where the wildfire is believed to have started. The wildfire was originally sparked on November 8, 2018.
Several Camp Fire survivors have also already filed lawsuits against PG&E. Furthermore, The Public Utilities Commission, Cal Fire, and federal prosecutors are all investigating the company as well.
The Camp Fire lawsuit from each insurance company comes before PG&E has been officially blamed.
Cal Fire is currently conducting an investigation into the cause of the Camp Fire. That said, it has yet to determine a specific cause for the wildfire. That said, the California insurance companies are pointing the finger directly at Pacific Gas and Electric Co (PG&E). The insurers have accused the utility company of doing an inadequate job at maintaining its equipment, towers and power lines.
“Plaintiffs have suffered damages caused by an act or omission of defendants,” said Allstate Insurance in its lawsuit filing, which was made in a Sacramento Superior Court on December 21, 2018.
Similarly, State Farm said that PG&E was “failing to keep the power lines, wires, and any and all associated equipment in a safe condition at all times to prevent fires.”
Over the last two years, the massive number of severe wildfires in California have placed insurance companies in the state under serious financial pressure. In fact, Merced Property & Casualty, a small P&C insurance provider in the state was declared insolvent last month as a result of the overwhelming Camp Fire claims it faced. Its policyholders are protected by an industry-funded guarantee association for claims up to $500,000.
The wildfire caused billions in damages and killed 86 people. It was the most damaging and most expensive 
wildfire in the state’s history. The Camp Fire lawsuit from each insurance company may help the insurers to recoup some of their losses if the utility is found responsible.
