[The Epoch Times, September 28, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter David Wagner / Li Ping compilation) The damage to the houses caused by Hurricane Fiona is still estimated, and the residents of the Canadian coastal areas have already taken the lead, and they will have to make their own calculations. losses, as many insurance companies simply do not cover storm losses.
DBRS Morningstar financial services company estimates that the economic losses caused by “Fiona” are estimated to be 300 million to 700 million yuan. Although the amount is huge, it will not cause much impact on insurance companies.
Amanda Dean, vice-president for Atlantic at the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), said home insurance typically only covers water in part, and flood insurance has to be added in addition. Even with additional flood coverage, some storm surges are difficult to measure due to sea level rise and coastline erosion risks and are not covered.
Co-operators Group, an insurance company that provides storm surge insurance to Western Canadian families, said in a statement that Co-operators is the only insurance company in the country that provides storm surge insurance, the company’s vice president, George Hardy, said in a statement.
According to DBRS Morningstar data, Atlantic Province has few central cities with a large population, low housing prices, and relatively stable climate, so storm losses account for a small proportion of Atlantic Province’s insured losses. In the national home insurance market, the four Atlantic provinces have a market share of only 5.9%.
According to IBC data, the insured losses caused by two natural disaster events in Eastern Canada in 2021 will be $152 million and $50 million, respectively, lower than Alberta’s $500 million in hail insurance losses and British Columbia’s $551 million in flood insurance losses. . The DBRS Morningstar report shows that since 1983, Atlantic Province has never been in the top 10 nationally for insured losses from major natural disasters over the years.
Dean said the insurance industry wants to develop a national public-private land-based flood insurance that provides flood insurance for all Canadian regions.
The latest IBC report believes that such a type of insurance can fill the gap of nearly 800,000 families in high-risk flood-risk areas across the country who do not have flood insurance and cannot afford high-value private flood insurance. According to the report, in the past 15 years, major natural disaster insurance claims have more than quadrupled. At present, the country’s annual natural disaster insurance conventional losses exceed 2 billion yuan, of which flood insurance losses account for the largest proportion. ◇
Responsible editor: Wen Fang