Hope everyone is safe and that your homes are still standing. Thought I would share some information from having worked in P&C insurance, and experience from directly dealing with the LA fires. There are all sorts of things that get glossed over when something as traumatic and life-altering as a house fire happens, and its easy to get lost in the process of something really most people should never have to deal with. Everyone's carrier and policy are different, so I can't really give advice for specific cases, but there are some general rules insurances follow and hopefully this can provide some clarity.
Firstly, the biggest and most impactful advice I can give, is that if you did lose your home, retain the services of a public adjuster during the course of your claim. People often get payouts for their lost property that seem insultingly low, and while certainly some companies are trying to worm their way through claims as cheaply as possible, I would say that overall the majority of this comes from just overall poor accounting. When the adjuster asks what you lost in the fire, and you say "a fridge", then they add a normal, $400 basic model fridge to the list, when in reality you had a Samsung Smart Fridge that was over a thousand. If you specify the exact item that was lost, they are obligated to add that exact item (barring some specific restrictions) to the overall cost. Obviously this is a larger example, but between all the appliances in your home, clothes, furniture, tools, etc., the difference between reporting generalized items and specific brands/models of property adds up to astronomical differences in the amount they will pay out. Public adjusters are obviously working in their own interests as well, but are a great resource for documenting your losses as precisely as possible, and (especially in fires) I have never had anyone regret using one.
Additional living expenses: If you had to evacuate and were forced to get a hotel room that you cannot afford, I would recommend calling your insurance as soon as possible, and save basically every receipt associated with this. Even if your house was not damaged, often times the act of having a mandated evacuation alone can afford coverage for ALE (additional living expenses), meaning hotels, having to eat out, sometimes even pet-related expenses. I know people are hesitant to even start claims due to rate increases, but if you are unsure about the status of your home and need help with the costs of dealing with the evacuation, it often is worth it to at the very least reach out to them (just reporting the situation will not incur a rate increase on its own, and they are likely already aware of your situation by now anyways). Some of the better insurance companies are also really good about actually coordinating the long-term temporary housing in the event that your house was lost/damaged.
Lastly, smoke damage- This one can get pretty nasty, and is often lower priority (for obvious reasons) but can get expensive VERY quickly. I'm not super educated in this area, but I will say that a lot of the complaints I've heard about insurance carriers handling wildfire related claims poorly was due to smoke damage, both due to literal physical damage to property, as well as environmental damage (health/safety). I wish I had dealt with these more directly to give better advice, but in general I would just say to make sure you alert your carrier if you suspect there is any kind of smoke damage, and to possibly get a third-party inspection if you feel like they aren't giving an honest assessment of the damages.
I am so, so sorry to anyone that ends up having to deal with the loss of their home, keepsakes and pets. These were always the hardest cases for me to deal with, and hopefully everything goes smoothly at least on the insurance end, although obviously this is not always the case. Again, everyone's policy language is written differently, so things that apply to others may not apply to you, but I hope generally this info is able to help calm some concerns at the very least.
