Five weeks after major flooding ripped through Windsor-Essex, devastating hundreds of homes, the Insurance Board of Canada has revealed that the bill for insured damages is up to $108 million – but some residents say they are still waiting for help from their insurers.
Residents have filed nearly 6,000 home, auto and business claims since the flooding struck on September 29, but not everyone is happy with their insurance company.
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David Norwood of Tecumseh told
CBC News that he still doesn’t know how much money he is getting back from his insurer, adding that he is finding the process “very frustrating.”
Norwood’s basement was flooded with nearly eight centimetres of water and sewage during the floods. The basement was stripped to the frame in most parts, and his carpet and appliances were ruined.
Norwood said that he waited days for anything to be done after first contacting his insurance company, but is since left in a kind of limbo.
“I think we’re covered,” he said. “I think we’re covered appropriately, but because we haven’t seen the end result, we’re still kind of waiting.”
While waiting to hear from his insurance company, his main concern was if there was any sewage, he said, adding that he was unsure on whether it was safe to be in his flooded basement.
“How long are we supposed to be down there, should we be down there, how much time should we spend down there?” Norwood questioned.
However, after telling his insurer that he was going to go to a hotel, they finally came to the house and cleaned it up, he said, but have not been back since.
An electrician and carpet company have been sent to take measurements, but Norwood said that his insurer never has a clear answer for him when he contacts them.
He explained that he is remaining patient because he knows that others are in a similar situation, and some homes have had worse flooding than his.
All Norwood wants, he told
CBC, is for his insurer to communicate with him about what is being done, when it is happening and what coverage he has moving forward.
“When you don’t know, you think ‘Is something going to happen, am I on the list?” he said, adding: “Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m being kept in the loop.”
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