Rating firms said today that they believed insurers providingproperty coverage in California have the ability to weather thelosses inflicted by the wildfires there.

Catastrophe modeling firms have estimated the insured lossescould exceed $1 billion. More than 1,500 structures were reportedburned today.

Fitch Rating said carriers are well positioned to absorb theselosses, since catastrophe claims have been well below average thisyear.

Standard & Poor's said it is maintaining its current stableoutlook on the property-casualty insurance sector in the face ofthe wildfires.

Meanwhile, as damage claims poured in an attorney warnedhomeowners to be on their guard against insurers.

John N. Ellison, managing partner in the Anderson, Kill &Olick Philadelphia office, issued a statement cautioningpolicyholders they should be watchful of their claims, taking careto document and fight for full recovery of what they are owed undertheir policy.

"The insurance industry has not had a great track record indealing as squarely as they could with policyholders," he said.

In fact after wildfires tore through California in 2003 andinflicted a record $1.06 billion in insured losses, then InsuranceCommissioner John Garamendi assailed the carriers for theirtreatment of insureds, an attack that the companies said wasunwarranted.

"Customers need to stick by their guns and get the full value oftheir claim under their insurance contract," said Mr. Ellison.

When asked if there could be a repeat of 2003 when insurers wereaccused of undervaluing homes, he said it is too early to tell howcarriers are doing.

"It will take a couple of weeks to see how the response willdevelop," he said.

Sam Sorich, president of the Association of California InsuranceCompanies, said the reports of disputes over claim evaluations areoverblown, and those cases that went to court resulted in a findingfor insurers.

It is too early at this point to know if claims handlingcontroversies will develop as they did in 2003.

Mr. Sorich said insurers reacting to the latest wildfire damagehave made an impressive response in working to adjust a huge volumeof claims spread all over the state.

He noted that insurers have placed teams in emergency centers tomake it easier for customers to access them and get the claimsprocess working. Mr. Sorich said some are calling policyholderschecking to see if they need assistance.

State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has already takenaction, issuing an emergency declaration yesterday that allowsstate-licensed adjusters and insurers to call in nonstate-licensedadjusters to help speed up the claims process.

Paul Hering, chief executive officer of the Barney & Barneyagency in San Diego, related some of the difficulties for agentsdealing with the latest wildfire destruction.

His firm has more than 200 employees and, he said, about half ofthem had been forced to evacuate their homes and many are stillunable to return including.

While the flames did not threaten Mr. Hering's offices, the lackof staff forced the business to shut down for three days, exceptfor a skeleton crew who were on hand to take care of immediatecustomer concerns.

No employees lost their homes, but Mr. Hering said he believesabout 20 of the firm's clients did. The exact number of homesdestroyed is unknown, he said, since many neighborhoods are stillinaccessible to residents.

He said this fire is comparable to the 2003 Cedar Fire inCalifornia if not worse.

That fire, according to the Insurance Information Institute, wasresponsible for $1.06 billion in insurance losses.

The state data released early today listed 10 fires burning,covering more than 375,000 acres. A total of 1,526 homes,businesses and other buildings were reported destroyed.

Mr. Ellison said that while policyholders should guard theirinterests, they may also find agents and brokers can be a greathelp with paperwork and taking the imitative in the claimsprocess.

"In times of tragedy, they can perform what customers view asmiracles," he said.