Calgary brokers are reporting a heavy volume of calls from clients who are wondering what to do next, after the worst flooding in the province’s history has ravaged people’s homes.
“As far as I’ve heard a lot of brokers are inundated with phone calls, and with their clients wondering where they go next,” said Chuck Saunders, owner of Bearspaw Insurance in Calgary. “Obviously one of the things about overland flooding is that there isn’t insurance coverage for something like that, so a lot of people are frustrated or worried about what’s going to happen with their homes.
“I think we’re all kind of waiting to see what the government is going to do in this situation.”
The government has currently established four centres in Calgary (in addition to centres located in other hard-hit areas of the province), where evacuated families can obtain pre-loaded debit cards. Individual evacuees are eligible to receive $1,250 and children under 18 are eligible to receive $500.
Evacuees can also apply for disaster financial assistance at the registration centres, which are scheduled to be opened between July 3 and 7. Future dates are planned, the Government of Alberta says on its web site, but not as yet scheduled.
The government is encouraging flood evacuees to call their insurance company to report their losses, and to obtain a letter from the insurance company confirming that their flood losses were uninsurable.
The demand for letters from insurers, where possible, has kept brokers busy.
“The brokers’ hair is standing on end,” said Kathy Mohacsi of Diamond Insurance. “If the companies would all do things the same way, it would be easy….
“That rejection letter isn’t easy to get from the insurance company [on short notice], because they have to go through their procedures, too. You’re getting calls from clients on that: ‘I need this letter, when can I expect it?’
“So you’re phoning the companies, and they are saying, ‘Well, we haven’t even got the rejection in from the adjuster.’ Hopefully, the government will give them leeway on that, or extend it.”
Brokers all agree this is the worst flood damage they have ever seen in the province, although reliable loss projections are hard to find. Claims are still being reported to insurance companies, so it is still too soon to tell the true extent of the insured losses.
Alberta Premier Alison Redford is cited in a briefing by U.S. ratings agency Moody’s cites as saying she expects flood damage to exceed the total of $700 million in insured damage caused by the wildfire that burned down much of the Town of Slave Lake in 2011.
The greatest damage is anticipated in commercial lines and the comprehensive portion of auto policies.
Moody’s points out that the insurers’ exposure to flood losses will vary depending on the proportion of their books that are in exposed lines. Plus, some insurers – such as Intact, for example – may have reinsurance above a certain level of losses that will ensure that the losses don’t eat into the company’s capital.
Insurers with the largest market share in Alberta are, in order of direct premiums written: Intact ($1.17 billion in Alberta), Wawanesa Mutual ($794 million), TD Assurance ($654 million), Co-operators General ($572 million) and Aviva Canada ($461 million).
