Canadian Underwriter

Blizzard in city. Winter weather. Deep snow
News CatastrophesClaimsClimate ChangeMarkets / Coverages

What Western Canada’s deep freeze cost insurers

March 11, 2024 by David Gambrill

Canada’s property and casualty insurers rang in 2024 by paying out $180 million to repair damage caused by Western Canada’s deep freeze in mid-January. Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) released the figure Monday, which is based on industry claims totals

Flooded out house
News CatastrophesClaimsClimate ChangeInsurance

Insurers bring Cat claims in-house: How independent adjusters adapt

February 7, 2024 Jason Contant

Some major Canadian P&C insurers are bringing claims processes in-house, arguing it results in a better customer experience, cost efficiencies and consistent claims-handling. But that doesn’t mean the end is near for independent adjusters (IAs). They see a bright future

Close up of an industrial bricklayer installing bricks to build back on a construction site
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Should insurers help customers build back better…or not at all?

January 4, 2024 Philip Porado

Increased severity and frequency of NatCats has Canada’s P&C insurance ecosystem seeking ways to add resilience to the claims process. This includes build back better initiatives to encourage adding things like hurricane straps or hail-resistant shingling to roof rebuilds to

Hurricane Fiona Cloud Map
News CatastrophesClaims

Privately-owned PEI utility seeks rate hike after Fiona losses

November 28, 2023 Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press (Halifax)

CHARLOTTETOWN – The privately owned electricity utility in Prince Edward Island wants ratepayers to cover $37 million in costs incurred during post-tropical storm Fiona in 2022. Maritime Electric, a subsidiary of Fortis, has applied to the Island’s regulatory commission for

Aerial view a wetland stillwater surrounded by wildfire damage.
News CatastrophesClaimsInsurance

P&C industry joins the $3-billion Cat club (again)

October 19, 2023 by David Gambrill

For the second year in a row, Canadian P&C insurers have become members of the unenviable $3-billion Cat club while paying out natural catastrophe damage losses. This year, damage losses were primarily so-called ‘secondary perils’ such as severe weather storms

Hurricane Fiona Cloud Map Nova Scotia 3D Render Color
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Hurricane Lee: Why the Canadian P&C industry is watching

September 7, 2023 by David Gambrill

Hurricane Lee is strengthening into a powerhouse Category 5 storm, and some preliminary scenarios suggest it could hit Atlantic Canada as a tropical storm sometime next week, AccuWeather is forecasting. “Lee poses a risk to people from the northern Caribbean

Lightning strike in a thunderstorm
News CatastrophesClaimsClimate ChangeInsuranceMarkets / Coverages

Thunderstorms now a primary concern for insurers

August 10, 2023 by David Gambrill

Damage from secondary perils such as thunderstorms in the first half of 2023 is of primary concern to reinsurers. A series of widespread thunderstorms hitting the U.S. accounted for 68% of global insured natural catastrophe losses in the first half

Ottawa, Canada - May 25, 2022: A row of power line poles that snapped on Merivale Road, a busy street in the west end of Ottawa. A severe storm known as a derecho passed through the area causing a lot of damage and power outages May 21.
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What the derecho in May cost P&C insurers

June 16, 2022 by David Gambrill

Central Canada’s derecho in May caused more than $875 million in insured damage, making it the sixth-largest natural catastrophe loss in Canadian history. “Damage in Ontario is estimated to be over $720 million, while the storm caused an estimated $155