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?

State authorities previously listed the Palisades as one of the five Southern California areas with the highest concentration of potential wildfire risks. The community also is among the areas most impacted by an unavailability of insurance coverage.

Officials and consumer advocates offer advice for Southern California residents with insurance questions in the aftermath of wildfires.

Analysts are evaluating the financial impact of the wildfires that have charred hillsides, homes, and streets in Los Angeles County, with initial estimates suggesting total insured losses could reach as high as $20 billion.

About 1,600 policies for Pacific Palisades homeowners were dropped by State Farm in July, the state insurance office says.

Insurers are set to face a bill that could top $20 billion.

In 2019, the number of homeowners’ policies in California that were not renewed jumped by more than thirty per cent. In 2023, two giant insurers, State Farm and Allstate, announced that they would stop writing new policies for various forms of property insurance in California.

The wind-driven wildfires burning out of control in the Los Angeles area couldn't have emerged at a more perilous moment for California's homeowners, as officials try to rehab what they concede is a deepening "insurance crisis.