Hawaii wildfire insured loss could reach $6bn: Guy Carp
Broker Guy Carpenter's insured loss estimate is the highest so far, after KCC estimated a loss of around $3.2bn, Moody’s RMS between $4bn to $6bn and Aon more than $1bn
The Lahaina wildfire ranks as the second-most expensive catastrophe in Hawaii’s history
The Hawaii wildfires will cause insured losses of between $4bn to $6bn, Guy Carpenter has estimated.
This is the highest estimate of insured losses for the disaster so far.
Modelling firm Karen Clark & Company previously estimated insured property losses will be around $3.2bn while Moody’s RMS estimated economic losses of between $4bn to $6bn, of which 75% or more is likely to be insured.
Aon has said it expects economic losses to be “in the billions”.
Guy Carpenter’s loss estimate covers damages from the fires spanning August 8 to August 11.
The global broker added there was “higher than average uncertainty” about the final cost of the disaster because of the potential for demand surge to increase the cost of building materials and labour, as well as uncertainty regarding other costs, including from disruption to tourism and island debris removal.
The broker said it was also unclear how much of the recovery would be funded by the state.
The wildfire in the Hawaiian town of Lahaina is the deadliest in the US in more than a century, with 115 fatalities and more than 1,000 still missing.
It was exacerbated by a powerful high-pressure system to the north, which led to strong winds that quickly turned the wilfdfire into an urban conflagration.
Human activity including development in high-risk areas and introducing non-native grasses were also contributing factors to the wildfire.
