Some insurance companies and adjusters aren’t informing flood victim policyholders in Quebec on how to save their property and home from unnecessary destruction - and they aren’t directing those who’ve been denied claims to the government.
Those are the allegations made by a Montreal renovation cost calculator and bidding platform owner, Mark Sibthorpe, who also said some insurers and adjusters are giving overland flood policyholders the run around.
Sibthorpe is the president of Pogo.Pro, a site that calculates the costs of replacing or repairing homes, hosts professional and accredited renovators bidding for projects as well as posting customer and industry ratings of the renovation teams.
“Insurance companies don’t know the procedure they should be following,” he said. “For example, for homeowners to clean out the debris in their home urgently, they need to get any wet walls, any wet insulation and any wet floors disposed of and out of the house and dried. If they don’t do that there’s going to be mold issues.
“Any insurance company that gets a call from a claimant, whether or not they’re going to cover them, should advise them immediately that they should take these actions. Because if they don’t take these actions, a problem that might cost $20,000, $30,000 to repair could destroy a whole house.”
Pogo.Pro’s site features a detailed video explanation of how Quebecers who’ve been flooded should document their damage with videos and photos; contact insurers; speak with adjusters; and explains how much they can receive from the government and within what timeframe.
The renovation cost-calculation aspect of Pogo.Pro brings transparency, Sibthorpe said, to both the insurer and the policyholder by preventing potential price gouging.
But Sibthorpe also said the way overland flood policyholders are being treated is substandard and basic, as necessary documents are being withheld – such as in one specific example he encountered.
“One customer has very detailed coverage,” Sibthorpe explained to illustrate his point. “They’ve been paying $40 for overland water coverage and also $100 per month for sewer back up. The claims adjuster has said specifically that the damage cannot be traced to one particular source, so the customer is not covered.
“Then the actual broker said the water came in through the windows and therefore there’s no coverage. But the truth of the matter is I have photographic evidence that on the highest day of the flood the water did not reach the house, it was actually several metres away from the house. Most of the water came from the sewer backup.”
However, the real issues, he says, started to come when the broker and adjuster began speaking with the policyholder as “they were very, very aggressive and rude”. Then the broker and adjuster, according to Sibthorpe, “stonewalled” the policyholder when they asked for a form detailing their claim denial so they could get government relief.
“This is atrocious customer service,” Sibthorpe commented.
According to Sibthorpe, some insurers and adjusters also aren’t telling policyholders of the Quebec Public Security offering to pay up to $200,000 for homeowners who’ve been denied claims.
“These insurance companies don’t have the right information for them (policyholders),” he said. “They don’t know the procedures they should follow. They don’t know what they should be doing to help them establish a claim and they don’t know the information on whether or not the claim is going to be covered.
“There’s actual aggression and misinformation from some insurance companies - and other insurance companies just don’t know what’s going on.”
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