California wildfire contents inventory: what the 2026 rules ask for after a total loss
California wildfire contents claims in 2026: the 60% advance without an inventory, category groupings, 100 days for proof of loss, and when itemizing pays.
Aidan Paluch10 min read
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After a wildfire destroys a home, the contents claim is the part that drags on. The structure has a dwelling limit and a rebuild estimate. The contents are thousands of things nobody photographed on purpose, and they are gone.
California has written several rules specifically for this situation. They apply when a loss relates to a declared state of emergency, which covers the large fires that drive most of these claims. The rules changed again for 2026, and a lot of the guidance still circulating online describes the old numbers.
This guide covers what the rules require, how to decide whether a full inventory is worth building, and how to build one when the evidence burned with the house. It is written for public adjusters and the people they work with, but homeowners doing their own claim can use it the same way.
This is documentation guidance, not legal or coverage advice. Statutes, carrier practice, and policy language vary. Confirm the current text of each rule and your own policy before relying on it.
The California rules that shape a wildfire contents claim
| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Advance without an inventory | After a total loss of a furnished primary residence in a declared state of emergency, the insurer must offer an advance of 60% of the personal property limit, up to $350,000, without an itemized claim. The insurer may require a signed attestation that the contents lost were worth at least the advance. Before 2026 the advance was 30% of the dwelling limit, up to $250,000, so a claim from an earlier fire is calculated on a different base. | Ins. Code § 10103.7, as amended by SB 495 (Ch. 542, Stats. 2025) |
| More than the advance | The insured can still claim contents above the advance, up to the policy's contents limit, by documenting the loss. | Ins. Code § 10103.7 |
| Category groupings | For a total loss of a primary residence after a declared emergency, the insurer must accept an inventory that includes groupings of categories of personal property, rather than demanding every item separately. | Ins. Code § 2061 (SB 872, 2020) |
| Time for proof of loss | The insurer cannot require proof of loss sooner than 100 days after the date of loss. For good cause, meaning a delay beyond your control while you act in good faith and with reasonable diligence, it must grant one or more three-month extensions. | Ins. Code § 2051.5, as amended by SB 495; CDI Bulletin 2026-5 |
| Beyond the minimum | After the 2025 Los Angeles fires, the Insurance Commissioner asked insurers to pay up to the full contents limit without a detailed inventory, and reported that most agreed to pay at least 75%. That was a request, not a statute, and it was specific to those fires. | CDI notices, February and March 2025 |
Two practical points follow from the table.
First, ask the carrier in writing what it is offering for this specific event. Some carriers have paid more than the statutory advance without an inventory. The number in your file is the one that matters.
Second, the advance is a floor, not a settlement. Taking it does not give up the rest of the contents limit. The inventory is how you claim the difference.
Should you build a full inventory?
The decision comes down to one comparison: what the household owned, at replacement cost, against the contents limit.
Take a hypothetical policy with a $400,000 contents limit:
- The statutory advance is 60%, which is $240,000.
- Unless the carrier offers more without a list for this event, the remaining $160,000 takes documentation to recover. Check the carrier's written offer before you start itemizing.
- If the household's contents would cost about $250,000 to replace, the advance covers nearly all of the loss. A detailed inventory might add around $10,000.
- If they would cost $450,000 to replace, the inventory is worth up to $160,000. That is usually worth the work, and worth doing carefully.
Mind the attestation either way. The insurer can require you to attest that the contents you lost were worth at least the advance, so take only an advance your actual loss supports. If the loss is plainly smaller than 60% of the limit, document it rather than attesting to a figure it does not reach.
You do not need the finished inventory to make this call. A rough category estimate is enough: furniture by room, clothing per person, kitchen, electronics, tools and garage, sports and hobbies, art and collections. If the rough total clears the advance by a wide margin, build the full inventory.
Building an inventory when the evidence burned
In a wildfire total loss there are no damaged items to photograph. The inventory has to be rebuilt from memory and from evidence that lived somewhere else. These sources tend to be the most productive, roughly in order.
1. Photos and video that were never in the house
Phones, cloud photo libraries (Google Photos, iCloud), and social media are the richest source. Birthday parties, holidays, and real-estate listing photos show whole rooms. Ask family and friends for photos taken in the home. A single living-room photo can support dozens of lines.
2. Purchase records
Online order histories (Amazon, Walmart, Target, Costco, Home Depot), credit card and bank statements, and email receipts establish brand, model, price, and date. They are the best evidence for electronics, appliances, furniture, and tools.
3. A room-by-room memory walk
Walk each room in your head with everyone who lived there, one wall at a time, then closets, drawers, and cabinets. Write it down as you go. People remember far more by location than by trying to list "everything we owned."
4. Category groupings where items are interchangeable
Section 2061 lets the inventory group categories, which saves real time on things like everyday clothing, linens, books, pantry food, and kitchen utensils. A grouping still needs a count and a reasonable unit replacement cost, for example "Women's tops, 40, $25 each." Group what is interchangeable. List individually what has a brand, a model, or real value: electronics, furniture, jewelry, instruments, bikes, tools, collectibles, designer clothing.
5. Replacement pricing that holds up
Each line needs a current replacement cost from a store the household can actually buy from, for an item of like kind and quality. Price the same brand and model when it is still sold; when it is not, use the nearest equivalent. A source link per line makes the number checkable instead of arguable.
RCV, ACV, and the money left after the advance
Most homeowner policies settle contents at actual cash value (ACV) first: replacement cost minus depreciation for age and condition. Replacement cost policies then pay the withheld depreciation once items are replaced. Policy language controls when and how that happens, and California has extended replacement time limits after declared emergencies, so check the current rule and the policy.
That is why a good wildfire inventory records, for every line or grouping:
- room and description
- quantity, plus brand and model where known
- age and pre-loss condition
- replacement source and unit replacement cost
- depreciation, RCV, and ACV
- the evidence behind it: a photo, a receipt, or a written note
Without age and condition, a carrier will apply its own depreciation. With them, you can see and challenge it.
Common mistakes
- Treating the advance as the settlement. The advance does not close the contents claim.
- Listing everything individually. Under § 2061 you can group interchangeable categories. Spend the effort on the items that carry value.
- Pricing at the cheapest match. Replacement cost is for an item of like kind and quality, not the lowest price anywhere.
- Missing the garage, yard, and storage. Tools, outdoor furniture, holiday decorations, sports gear, and stored items are often the largest forgotten categories.
- Letting deadlines lapse silently. Get the proof-of-loss and inventory dates in writing. If a delay outside your control holds you up while you are working diligently and in good faith, ask in writing for the three-month good-cause extension § 2051.5 provides.
Where a public adjuster fits
Contents is where many wildfire claims are left underpaid, because the inventory is so much work for a household that has just lost its home. A public adjuster can run the category estimate, decide with the client whether to itemize, build and price the schedule, and present it to the carrier. California licenses public adjusters and regulates their contracts and fees, so check the license and the contract terms. The public adjuster contents inventory field guide covers what makes a schedule reviewable.
Where Contents.team fits
Contents.team is built for the schedule itself. Upload pre-loss photos and it drafts editable item lines room by room; import a spreadsheet for categories and memory lists; then review each line's replacement price, age, condition, depreciation, RCV, and ACV before exporting a branded PDF or an XactContents-format XLSX. It does not decide coverage, and people review every line before it goes to the carrier.
See total-loss inventory software for the whole-home workflow, or start with the free total-loss contents inventory checklist and CSV.
Sources
- California Insurance Code § 10103.7 and § 2061
- SB 495 (2025–2026), California Legislative Information
- California Department of Insurance, release on the signing of SB 495
- California Insurance Code § 2051.5; California Department of Insurance, Bulletin 2026-5 and 2026 notice of laws for declared states of emergency
- California Department of Insurance, Bulletin 2025-2: Wildfire consumer protections and advance payments
- California Department of Insurance, March 2025 report on insurers paying without the list
Where to go next
- Total-loss contents inventory checklist + CSV: the fields and a template to start from.
- Non-salvageable personal property inventory: when some items survive but cannot be restored.
- Best contents inventory software in 2026: the tools, compared by workflow.
Request access to Contents.team →
Or email sales@contents.team to work through a real wildfire claim.
Last updated: October 30, 2026. This article describes contents documentation, not legal or coverage advice. The figures reflect California Insurance Code § 10103.7 as amended by SB 495, effective January 1, 2026; confirm the current statute, the Department of Insurance's guidance for the specific event, and the policy before relying on them. The CDI's consumer hotline is 800-927-4357.
Frequently asked
Do I have to list every item after a California wildfire total loss?
Not to receive the advance. For a total loss of a furnished primary residence in a declared state of emergency, California Insurance Code section 10103.7, as amended by SB 495 for 2026, requires the insurer to offer an advance of 60 percent of the personal property limit, up to $350,000, without an itemized claim. To recover more than the advance, up to the contents limit, you document the rest. Confirm the current statute and your policy before relying on any figure.
Can a wildfire contents inventory group items by category?
For a contents claim tied to a total loss of a primary residence after a declared state of emergency, Insurance Code section 2061 requires the insurer to accept an inventory that includes groupings of categories of personal property, such as clothing or books. High-value items are still worth listing individually so their replacement cost can be checked.
How long do I have to submit a contents inventory after a California wildfire?
For a loss tied to a declared state of emergency, Insurance Code section 2051.5 as amended for 2026 bars the insurer from requiring proof of loss sooner than 100 days after the date of loss. If you are acting in good faith and with reasonable diligence and still face a delay beyond your control, that is good cause, and the insurer must grant one or more additional three-month extensions. The carrier may also set its own, separate timeline for the contents inventory, so ask it to confirm every date for your claim in writing, and request any extension in writing.
Is it worth building a full inventory if the insurer pays 60 percent without one?
It depends on what the household actually owned. If the replacement cost of the contents is close to or above the policy limit, the difference between the advance and the limit is what a documented inventory is for. If the contents were worth about the advance, a full inventory may add little. The insurer can require an attestation that the loss at least equals the advance, so a rough category estimate early on matters either way: it tells you whether the advance is supported and whether itemizing is worth it.
Can Contents.team build a wildfire total-loss inventory?
Contents.team turns pre-loss photos into editable room-by-room item lines, imports spreadsheets, attaches sourced replacement pricing, calculates depreciation, RCV and ACV, and exports PDF or XactContents-format XLSX. People still supply what the photos cannot show and review every line before it goes to the carrier.
Written by
Aidan PaluchFounder and President, Contents.team
Aidan writes about total-loss contents documentation, public-adjuster workflows, desk review, and contents inventory software.
Related guides
- Non-salvageable personal property inventory: what to documentA practical guide to building a non-salvageable contents inventory without confusing the disposition decision, the claim evidence, and the priced schedule.
- Public adjuster contents inventory field guideA documentation-first guide to public-adjuster contents inventories: item fields, evidence sources, replacement pricing, valuation review, and claim handoff.