Economical expects total insured losses from Alberta, Toronto floods to be $45-50 million

Economical Insurance expects its loss from June’s flooding in southern Alberta to be $30 million, after taking into account expected reinsurance recoveries, the company said Tuesday.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based insurer also estimates a loss of $30 million net of reinsurance from the early July flooding in the Greater Toronto Area.

In terms of total insured losses, gross of any reinsurance recovery, Economical said it estimates that each event will likely fall within a range of $45 to $50 million. The company’s property catastrophe reinsurance coverage commences once losses reach $30 million on an individual loss event, after reflecting any other relevant recoveries.

“The damage wrought by these precedent-setting incidents demonstrates that, as a country, we are facing the increasing impact of climate change,” Karen Gavan, the company’s president and CEO noted in a statement.

Economical also noted that there is “considerable uncertainty associated with any loss estimate, which in this instance is further complicated by the inherent uncertainties related to flood events.”

Its loss estimates are based on claims reported to date, some of which are not fully resolved and there may still be some claims not yet reported to the company, it added.