January 2025 has been a month that will go down in history. Donald Trump was sworn into office for his second term. Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will be doing away with independent fact checkers on their social media sites. But, most importantly, Los Angeles was ravaged by rampant wildfires for nearly the entire month.

While the first fire actually occurred on January 1st, it was quickly contained. But the fire warnings remained consistent throughout the next week. Los Angeles had been experiencing a drought for some time prior. Which, when paired with the Santa Ana Winds, provided ideal conditions for a wildfire to quickly spread. And on January 7th, the real devastation began.

The LA Wildfires

On January 7th five separate wildfires commenced. Two of these were contained within the same day. Whereas the Palisades and Eaton fires weren’t contained until the 31st. As the month continued many more fires occurred, but all of them were contained within a few days at the most. The Palisades and Eaton fire were the two most significant, and damaging fires of the month.

It has been estimated that the LA wildfires are the most expensive natural disaster in US history. The total estimated losses are near $275 billion dollars. With hundreds of homes and businesses completely burnt to the ground. Whole swathes of LA have become little more than ash filled wastelands. It is truly a grim spectacle.

While a number of celebritie’s homes were affected by the wildfires, global news has been more focused on the plight of regular citizens. With over 200,000 people forced to evacuate. And a large percentage of that number have lost their homes and all their possessions. The fallout for Los Angeles residents has been traumatic to say the least.

Both sides of the political aisle have weighed in on the issue. With the democrats calling for more climate change policies to come into effect. While the republicans, most notably Trump, have claimed the wildfires are a symptom of Biden’s poor handling of the US infrastructure for the last four years.

But how have the LA wildfires affected Florida? You might think that, since the two states are so far apart, there wouldn’t be any fallout. But this isn’t the case. The LA wildfires might actually be causing quite a dramatic change in how Florida’s insurance market works.

The Knock-On Effects

Florida and LA are similar in a lot of ways. One of those ways is that both states often have the perfect conditions for wildfires to begin and to spread. Florida has been lucky that they have never seen a wildfire as destructive as those LA just experienced. But the LA wildfires are a sign of the changing times. Climate change is a very prevalent issue. And every year we are seeing the effects of it first hand.

Many residents of LA found that their insurance providers would not be paying out for the damages caused by the wildfires. Many companies claim that wildfires aren’t covered in their policies. While many other residents had been forced to cancel their policies ahead of the fires due to the sharply rising costs.

The LA wildfires have forced insurance companies in Florida to change their approach to coverage. After seeing how much damage was caused in LA, many providers are looking to increase their coverage premiums. They claim this is to ensure their policyholders will be protected if the worst does happen.

But some experts predict that many insurance companies might take a different approach. By simply making it clear that their company does not provide coverage in the event of wildfire. But this might not be a smart move. Any insurance provider that removes wildfire coverage completely will likely start losing a lot of customers. Especially now that wildfires are becoming a more prevalent threat.

Many Florida residents are now working to increase awareness about wildfires. Providing education surrounding preventative measures and offering financial advice in regards to creating emergency funds. Tampa Bay’s leading roofing company has been advising residents to look at fitting their homes with fire-resistant roofing. As well as ensuring the rest of their home’s structure is as fire resistant as it can be. The idea being that less damage caused to the structure by a wildfire will increase the chance of an insurance payout.

But it isn’t just wildfires that the people of Florida are worried about. Hurricanes are another natural disaster that Florida has to deal with frequently. And they have also been getting progressively worse as the years go by. This has generally caused insurance premiums in hurricane prone areas of Florida to rise significantly. And this could now be further compounded as the risk of cataclysmic wildfires increases. Financial experts are advising Florida residents to check their insurance policies, including all the fine print and hidden details. Just to ensure that their coverage is as comprehensive as they believe it to be.