Hiscox has said it will take a 170 million dollar (£134 million) hit from the Los Angeles wildfires which broke out at the start of 2025. The wildfires, which raged during the first half of January, have been estimated by some to be the costliest natural disaster in US history.
More than 16,200 structures were destroyed as flames ripped through Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Pasadena and Altadena areas of Los Angeles. Hiscox said on Thursday that the wider insurance industry loss could be as high as 40 billion dollars (£31.6 billion), while most of its own losses would come through its reinsurance arm, Hiscox RE & ILS.
Estimates of the total economic loss from the firestorm have been estimated to surpass 250 billion dollars (£197.9 billion). And property losses from the Palisades and Eaton fires alone have been predicted to potentially top 30 billion dollars (£23 billion), according to a Los Angeles Times analysis.
Hiscox, meanwhile, said it would book its own loss on the event in the first quarter of the upcoming financial year, as it revealed a second consecutive year of record profit. The insurer made 685.4 million dollars (£541 million) in pre-tax profit in 2024, up nearly a 10th year-on-year.
The group said the wildfires caused “tragic loss of life and widespread destruction. We extend our sympathies to our customers and to all of those impacted by these events”. Hiscox also pointed to a 28 million dollar (£22 million) loss from the Baltimore Bridge collapse, which saw the major US suspension bridge collapse after a container ship struck one of its piers.
The group said 2024 was also an “active natural catastrophe year”, pointing to five hurricanes in the US, flooding in Spain, Germany and central Europe and more extreme weather events in Canada. It said natural catastrophe-related losses were “within expectations”, while Hurricane Milton, which struck Florida in October did not result in as big a loss as expected.
