As a centre of excellence for basement flood risk reduction, ICLR never advises that just a backwater valve will reduce the risk (indeed, we have 20 tips to reduce basement flooding). Yet Canadian insurers have taken to advising insureds to…
Read more →Monk v. Farmers’ Mutual Insurance Co. (Lindsay), [2014] O.J. No. 3509, illustrates the importance of the policy language used. Ontario Superior Court Justice Koke summarily dismissed this action against both the insurer and insurance broker arising from an insurance coverage claim…
Read more →The EF2 tornado that tore through Angus, Ontario June 17 damaged 102 recently built homes in the small community located just west of Barrie. Ten or 11 homes lost their roofs entirely. These homes will have to be razed and…
Read more →From an insurance perspective, essentially all of the large-loss hail events recorded in Canada have occurred in Alberta. Indeed, the top three most expensive hailers on record took place in that province. Emergency Preparedness Canada’s website lists the September 7,…
Read more →At this is being written, Western’s University’s Storm Damage Assessment Team is on the ground in Angus, Ontario working with Environment Canada (EC) to rate a tornado that ripped through town at about 5:20 p.m. on June 17. The team…
Read more →Prior to the $700 million wildfire in Slave Lake, Alberta in May 2011, ICLR was on record warning the Canadian insurance industry of a $1 billion wildfire loss event in the country. And while $700 million isn’t $1 billion (even when…
Read more →It is very common to hear a backwater valve being called a backflow valve, backflow preventer or backflow prevention device and vice versa, but the two are nowhere near being the same thing. Using an incorrect term while giving a homeowner…
Read more →Though we have to be careful about attributing the rise in disaster losses in the country solely to the poor state of public infrastructure (there are many other factors that have to be considered as well), there can be no…
Read more →The impact of natural catastrophes is having an ever-increasing impact on the results of insurers around the world. According to a recent report from Aon Benfield’s catastophe model development arm, natural catastrophes caused roughly $7 billion in insured losses globally…
Read more →If we as an industry are to have any shot at all of reducing the impact of sewer backup and basement flooding, we have to start cutting through the myths, misinformation, exaggeration, conventional wisdom and everything else that is getting…
Read more →In 2008, thieves stole approximately $2 million dollars worth of jewellery, including two Stanley Cup rings, from the home of Paul and Judy Bronfman. As it turned out, the couple’s insurance policy contained sub-limits of $10,000 for jewellery and $1,500…
Read more →Whenever a large natural hazard event takes place and things didn’t quite go as desired (and they seldom do), you can bet that you will hear from certain quarters that the storm/flood/wildfire/earthquake “was just too big, there was nothing we…
Read more →In Stewart v. TD General Insurance Company, a three-member panel of the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed the appeal from the motion judge’s ruling that the plaintiffs were entitled to just $1,000 for each of their 11 stolen marijuana plants that…
Read more →The impact of water damage on property insurance results has drawn the attention of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. As noted by the Insurance Bureau of Canada, one out of every two dollars paid for homeowners insurance goes to cover…
Read more →