Natural Resources Canada is hoping to help insurers cut their loss costs with a yet-to-be released earthquake early warning system. The warning system could provide seconds to tens of seconds of warning before a location is affected by strong shaking,…
A client’s structure can remain standing after a wildfire, even when other buildings in the same neighbourhood burn down, because dozens of factors affect a property’s risk, experts said Thursday during a webinar. “The interesting thing about wildfire is [that]…
If you take a deep dive into the real cost to Canadians of insured major natural disasters, even though the methodology changed around 2008, it still shows a long-term trend of claims cost increases over nearly 40 years, industry experts…
There is growing awareness that governments can transfer the financial risk of natural disasters to both insurance and capital markets, a Swiss Re expert observes. In Asia, Africa, the United States and Britain, there are examples of national and sub-national…
With weather catastrophes costing the industry billions, insurers are calling for a “whole of society” approach to mitigating climate risk. “Some of our insurer members have been on the vanguard of talking about climate change for many many years now.…
Four Alberta catastrophes this year have cost insurers a grand total of about $2 billion, the Insurance Bureau of Canada confirmed this week. A hailstorm June 13, affecting mainly northeast Calgary, topped the list as it caused about $1.2 billion…
Insurers paid out more $228 million in insured damage for spring flooding in Fort McMurray, Alta., that occurred a little over a month ago. Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) released the numbers this week, noting that commercial properties took…
A January storm in southern Ontario and Quebec caused more than $95 million in insured damage, mostly from damage to personal property, according to estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). The majority ($81.6 million) of the insured damage…
While the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC) is encouraging homeowners to contact brokers about earthquake and overland flood risk, it is not aiming to shock or scare the living daylights out of consumers. “We consciously chose not to use…
A former head of the United States National Flood Insurance Program has some frank advice for Canadian insurance professionals concerned about the lack of affordable overland flood coverage insurance for high-risk properties. “Look at what they have done south of…
Hail is a major driver of insured property damage in Canada, but testing resilience of roofing material by dropping steel balls on it has limited value, a CatIQ Connect speaker suggested Wednesday. Roy Wright, president and CEO of the Insurance…
Laura Twidle, managing director at Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ), adds a new twist on why the P&C industry is inundated with flood claims. Hint: It’s not just climate change