Number of homes uninsurable for flood risk growing: study
January 17, 2019 by The Canadian Press
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A coast-to-coast study finds Canadians aren’t keeping up with the need to protect their homes against catastrophic events made more common by climate change.
The study from the University of Waterloo points out that insurance claims from weather-driven problems like floods have more than quadrupled over the last decade – even after taking rising real estate prices into account.
The study from the university’s climate adaptation centre adds that the number of homes that are uninsurable for flood risk is also beginning to grow.
It says there are a range of easy, inexpensive measures people can take to keep their homes dry.
They can be as simple as ensuring rainspouts drain far enough away or installing a sump pump with a backup power supply.
The study found that less than 10 per cent of eligible homeowners take advantage of municipal flood-proofing grants.
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No one will argue that more can be done by a homeowner to reduce damage from water but that is not the real issue.
The problem is that houses are built with basements in built-up areas because the minimal lot sizes dictate that the houses had to be built vertically and this continues with new construction. A ranch-style home built on a slab is well immune from the most common of water-produced damage but this type residence requires land for horizontal construction which will not be easily found in urban areas.
Add to this the depletion of greenbelt and less absorption of rain water and older homes with corroding footings and basement walls and you have all the makings of further water damage claims. All an insurer can do is “let the punishment fit the crime” (rate to produce profit) as the old insurance saying goes. As philanthropic as insurance may seem to some minds, it’s no different than the corner bakery hiking the price of butter tarts to keep up with profit and overhead.
Croissant anyone?