Nearly two months have passed since a massive hailstorm pummeled Northeast Calgary – and many affected residents are still awaiting word from both their insurers and the provincial government about any financial support.
The storm system – which brought hail, rain, and strong winds to the communities of Calgary, Airdrie, Rocky View County, and the surrounding areas on June 13 – is estimated to have caused about $1.2 billion in insured losses. The weather event has been identified as Canada’s fourth-costliest natural disaster in history.
While some time has passed since the hailstorm, many affected homeowners are still waiting for payments, either from their insurers or the government. Some even plan to stage a protest this coming Tuesday outside of the McDougall Centre, to petition the provincial government to provide more financial aid to hailstorm victims.
“What we’re asking for is a $5,000 interest free loan that would be paid back over the next five years,” Saddleridge resident Jason Fischer explained to CTV News. “This should be a non-partisan issue because people from all stripes and colours have been impacted.”
The demands come after the Alberta government announced in June that it would offer disaster funding for uninsurable losses to properties devastated by overland flooding resulting from the storm. However, the financial assistance program does not cover damage caused by hail or sewer backup, as well as insurance deductibles. The government claimed that insurance coverage for hail and sewer backup is “considered reasonably and readily available.”
It is not just provincial financial aid that Calgary residents are waiting for – their insurance claims are also taking too much time to process, they argue.
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) Western vice-president Celyeste Power told Calgary Herald that it typically takes time to process claims related to high-damage events such as the June 13 hailstorm.
“This event had one of the highest number of claims we’ve ever seen, with 70,000 claims,” Power said. “Insurers are processing those as quickly as possible.”
Power also gave assurances that insurance companies have been working closely with policyholders.
“My understanding is that insurers have been in touch with the majority of the policyholders there and there are not significant delays happening on the ground.”
Power previously issued a statement on the hailstorm, saying that the event – despite the massive scale of the damage – was entirely insurable.
