Maui wildfires ‘to cost insurers at least $1bn’
Lahaina’s relatively high $1.5m average single-family home value contributed to the loss
More than 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed in the Lahaina fire last week, amounting to the second-largest insured loss in Hawaii’s history
The wildfires that devastated parts of the Hawaiian Islands will cost insurers more than $1bn, Moody’s has estimated.
Several wildfires destroyed most of the Lahaina community in western Maui, Hawaii last week.
It is estimated that 2,207 structures were damaged or destroyed in the Lahaina fire and 2,719 structures exposed.
Given the damage assessment and Lahaina’s relatively high $1.5m average single-family home value, Moody’s said insured losses will be at least $1bn and primarily affect property and casualty insurers with significant homeowners and commercial property market share in Lahaina.
Global broker Aon earlier estimated that total economic losses from the wildfires will likely rise into the billions of dollars.
Catastrophe modelling firm Karen Clark & Co said the total insured loss is expected to be the second-largest in Hawaii history, second only to Hurricane Iniki based on today’s property values.
The fires were fanned by high winds generated by Hurricane Dora, which passed 490 miles to the south of the islands last week.
The worst of the damage was in Lahaina, the historic town on Maui’s west coast, where the death toll reached 93 at the weekend, making the fire the deadliest seen in the US in more than a century.
