Los Angeles wildfires spark insurance anxiety among victims

A cyclist looks at the remains of destroyed buildings following the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, U.S. January 10, 2025. REUTERS/David Ryder

ALTADENA, California (Reuters) - As Los Angeles construction worker Ivan De La Torre surveyed a landscape of smoking wreckage in fire-ravaged Altadena, a question nagged at him: how would insurance companies cover the cost of rebuilding an entire neighborhood?

As hundreds of Los Angeles residents return to find homes reduced to ashes due to a devastating wave of wildfires, many are fearful that their insurance policies may not cover the rebuild cost and that future premiums will be astronomical.