Insurers looking to reduce home restoration claims costs should find ways to avoid tearing out walls, flooring, rugs, trim and other major construction components. One insurer’s launched a program to do just that. The approach will lead to a “1%…
Parts of Canada have been hit with several major snowstorms in succession this winter, and while none of the severe storms individually will likely be declared catastrophes (i.e. resulting in more than $30 million of insured damage), they may be…
COVID-19 accelerated development of process efficiencies for insurance adjusters. Pre-pandemic, data-gathering and communications systems began shifting many claims to desk teams, creating efficiencies for adjusters by reserving site visits for complex cases. “What COVID did was expedite some of that…
A British Columbia condo owner failed to show a strata corporation breached its duty to repair and maintain the irrigation system or the building’s waterproofing membrane. In Yoon v. The Owners, Strata Plan, the applicant, Bori Yoon, claimed the strata negligently…
Did a toilet backup cause $35,700 worth of damage to the cell phone stock of a retail business, as argued by Gore Mutual, or $105,000, as the business owner claimed? Neither side agreed with the appraised value of the losses,…
RESOLUTE, Nunavut – An observatory in Resolute, Nunavut, has been damaged by fire. RCMP say the building was empty when police responded to the structure fire on Tuesday. While no injuries were reported, the blaze destroyed the observatory’s living quarters…
LaSalle, Ont., has the highest home insurance premiums in the province right now, whereas Ajax, Ont., offers the least expensive home insurance premiums, according to the latest data from rate comparison site RatesDotCa. On average, home insurance premiums in Ontario…
B.C.’s Supreme Court has denied a claimant’s attempt to bail out of two mandatory dispute resolution hearings with multiple insurers in a three-year dispute over the value of water damage in her strata unit. “The plaintiff is understandably frustrated by…
A Fort McMurray, Alta., bowling alley is entitled to coverage for water damage sustained in the April 2020 flooding, despite its insurance policy containing a clear flood exclusion. The Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench found Intact included a coverage extension…
A recent flood damage claim in B.C. speaks to the importance of getting in writing from clients exactly what restoration services have been authorized for payment, be it a repair or a full investigation into the cause of the water…
A recent decision by B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) may motivate strata (condo) corporations to adjust their bylaws so that they can charge insurance policy deductibles back to their strata unit owners. Based on the outcome of the CRT decision,…
How governments and the industry should broach the delicate topic of expropriation in areas at high risk of flood damage