"What we're trying to do here is provide our policyholders an additional level of protection,'' said Stan Rivera, director of wildfire protection for AIG Private Client Group. The average home insured by the unit is valued at $1.7 million with the average homeowners policy costing $19,000 per year.
AIG this year expanded its Wildfire Protection Unit to 150 ZIP codes in California and Colorado, up from 14 when it was formed in 2005. The unit has had the busiest week since its inception as fires burned at least 719 square miles (1,861 square kilometers) from Santa Barbara to San Diego, destroying or damaging about 2,000 homes and 200 businesses and causing at least seven deaths.
The Wildfire Protection Unit has six trucks outfitted to spray Phos-Chek, the fire retardant used by the U.S. Forest Service. Customers can have Phos-Chek sprayed on brush surrounding their homes before each fire season. During a wildfire, the trucks are sent out whenever a fire comes within three miles of a home and spray all combustible areas.
AIG Private Client Group has about 55,000 customers throughout the U.S., Rivera said. California is "one of the biggest'' markets for the group, Rivera said.
Fire destroyed at least 43 buildings in Rancho Santa Fe in northern San Diego, ranked the second-most-expensive ZIP code in the country by "Forbes Magazine".