The dollar amount from insurance claims tied to the deadly January debris flows in Santa Barbara County now tops more than $400 million dollars, and is expected to continue to rise.
State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones released an update on the status of insurance claims. Jones says insurance companies have received more than 2,000 claims, totalling just over $421 million dollars.
The January 9th disaster killed 23 people, and destroyed or damaged more than 400 homes and businesses.
Early in the process, Jones warned insurance companies that they would not be able to exclude claims from people who had fire insurance, but didn’t have flood insurance. He says because the fire set the stage for the flooding and debris flows, the fire is the ultimate cause.
The insurance commissioner says that so far, his office hasn’t received any reports of companies trying to exclude claims for that reason.
