MPI expects number of hail claims to keep climbing

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This article was published 20/06/2018 (2871 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hail damage from last week’s storm could cost Manitoba Public Insurance more than $20 million.

The Crown corporation has received more than 2,000 claims after the storm last Thursday caused serious damage to vehicles in southern Manitoba.

“We expect the numbers to increase as the days go by,” MPI spokesperson Brian Smiley said.

MPI is opening appointment-based emergency claim centres in Ninette today and in Winkler on Thursday to speed up the claims process for motorists.

“They will assist our customers in having their vehicles estimated and repaired as quick as possible,” Smiley said.

Adjusters will begin assessing the damages today or Thursday.

Ninette resident Brenda Peters is one many motorists who had their vehicles damaged in the storm. Hail smashed windows on all three of her cars, and cut through the siding on her house.

“Everything is full of holes,” said Peters who works at the Motor Hotel in Ninette.

“I’ve never seen hail that big in my life.”

The hail was the size of baseballs, and Peters said she is currently housing one in her freezer that is the size of a tennis ball.

Peters reached out to MPI to file a claim, but she said she was told to call back at a later date.

“They said (to call back) unless you cannot drive your vehicle,” she said.

MPI said some motorists are being told to call back later so the corporation can deal with claims on a priority basis.

“We want to get to the non-driveable vehicles first, because the windshields have either been smashed out or there’s significant glass damage, or they’re undrivable, so we want to service those customers,” Smiley said.

Besides her vehicles, the roof and north side of Peters’ house received significant damage, and because she doesn’t have insurance, she said those won’t be covered.

“We’ll patch it as best we can and go on,” Peters said.

This isn’t the first time Peters has seen the damage that hail can cause. Her car was also damaged two years ago in a storm, and she had to go through MPI and get her car repaired then as well.

Peters is one of many in her community who incurred significant damage as a result of the storm. She said hail smashed the rear windows of every car on her block.

Brenda Farrer, who owns Ninette Gas Service, is also feeling the effects of the storm, both at her home and business.

She received an unwanted surprise on Thursday following the storm, when she entered one of the rooms in her house to find a window smashed, and a big chunk of hail on the bed. Her gas station also sustained dents to its tin roof.

For a storm that Farrer said lasted a mere 11 to 12 minutes, the effects were devastating.

“Holy crap” is what Farrer said she was thinking throughout those minutes.

Two of her three vehicles are now not driveable on the highway, and she said that her husband spoke to MPI on the phone on Monday night.

“(The process) is going to be a pain,” Farrer said.

Still, it’s not the biggest or most expensive hailstorm to hit the province.

In 1996, a storm that hit Winnipeg resulted in MPI receiving more than 24,000 claims and paying out $53 million.

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