Storm insurance claims could set record

WINNIPEG — Manitoba is on pace to set a record for insurance claims related to this week’s storms.

Insurance brokers have been inundated with calls to assess and process claims for flooded basements and properties. Local insurer ONE Insurance said it has received more than 700 claims and expects to issue millions of dollars to its clients.

“It is definitely the single largest event that we’ve experienced in our organization,” said interim CEO Rey Girardin.

Residents in the RM of Rockwood, including in Stonewall and Balmoral, have submitted the most claims, he said.

Stonewall was slammed with 250 millimetres of rain Tuesday night, flooding basements and cutting the power for more than 24 hours. On Friday, Hydro said about 80 customers in the Balmoral area remained without power overnight as crews continued to discover damaged poles that need to be replaced.

Girardin said claims submitted for the storm cite the combination of sewer backups and sump pump failures.

“We’re giving our all and getting to our clients as soon as we can on that basis,” he said.

The Insurance Brokers Association of Manitoba said the tab for the devastation could set a record for personal insurance claims in Manitoba.

“The jury’s still out on it, and I’m not sure what the final number will be, but it’s going to be significant, likely one of the largest and most costly events due to extreme weather,” said CEO Grant Wainikka.

In Winnipeg, sewer backup is the most common type of claim, while overland flooding is a close second.

Not everyone who had flooding is covered. Overland flooding involves a newer type of coverage, and while there has been an uptick in purchases of that type of coverage, some regions aren’t eligible.

“If you’re an insurance company offering these products, if you have a region of the province that is subject to flooding over and over and over and over again, then they are less likely to take on that risk,” Wainikka said.

In Winnipeg, the city is assessing damage to municipal infrastructure for insurance requirements. There were reports of toilet and sewer backups, water infiltration and roof leaks, power outages, and minor fleet vehicle damage, city spokesperson Julie Dooley said in an email.

Manitoba Public Insurance expects this week’s severe weather to result in the most claims it has received for a weather event.

So far, about 20,000 claims for damage to vehicles have been filed since Tuesday.

“Processing this unprecedented number of claims is unfeasible using current processes,” the Crown corporation said in a news release Friday.

MPI expects claims will continue to be reported in the months ahead, which will likely exceed the record of 24,000 in 1996 when a series of spring storms pummelled Winnipeg.

MPI said it is establishing a phased approach that will allow it to handle the huge number of claims.

Details are scant, but the insurer said its plan will “provide early damage assessments and get customers on the way to having their vehicles repaired.”

Several municipalities have declared states of emergency. It will take time before some of the most affected areas can begin to tally the damages.

RM of Rosser CAO Larry Wandowich couldn’t say how much the devastation would cost the municipality.

The municipality declared a state of emergency and Highway 221, which is in its jurisdiction, had to be cut to allow for water to flow out of flooded areas.

Premier Wab Kinew announced Thursday that Manitobans could apply for help under the Disaster Financial Assistance program, which covers the cost of uninsurable losses and emergency-response efforts.

On Friday Kinew said the province was just beginning to count its losses and couldn’t give a damage estimate.

“It’s clear this is on a whole different scale than we’re used to in Manitoba,” he said.

Kinew said Manitoba’s current disaster response is based on the past and must be updated to incorporate the effects of climate change.

“Having been in office for just a couple of years, we’ve dealt with record-setting wildfires and record-setting overland flooding. I think it makes sense for us to just ask in a constructive way, ‘How can we make sure that the emergency services are meeting the needs of Manitobans?’” he said.

Kinew said the province is reviewing its response to wildfires and flooding with an eye to prevention and mitigation.

“So if you’re looking at the Swan Valley region, whether it’s the provincial infrastructure, like the giant cut we made to Highway 10, or if it’s municipal roads or people’s homes, I think part of the conversation there is going to be, ‘How is water going to move through a newly rebuilt Highway 10, a newly rebuilt municipal road or newly recovered property?’” the premier said.

Wainikka said the province needs to look at ditches, culverts and watersheds, so water has somewhere to go.

“I think that there needs to be a collection of people from the insurance industry, of people from environmental firms that understand, engineering firms that understand how to mitigate the damage here, and how to possibly respond better once it does,” he said.

On Friday, volunteers were setting up sandbag dikes at a 50-home development in Stony Mountain.

RM of Rockwood Reeve Wes Taplin said the site is at risk of being flooded as the water from Stonewall and the RM of Woodlands moves south.

» Winnipeg Free Press