Northeast Calgary residents are sounding the alarm about an ongoing “insurance crisis” that has seen coverage denied, premiums skyrocket and deductibles double or triple in price after severe hailstorms. Read More
A Cornerstone resident has a $10,000 deductible and pays $580 per month for home insurance premiums
A Cornerstone resident has a $10,000 deductible and pays $580 per month for home insurance premiums
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Northeast Calgary residents are sounding the alarm about an ongoing “insurance crisis” that has seen coverage denied, premiums skyrocket and deductibles double or triple in price after severe hailstorms.
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Roughly 20 residents from northeast communities hosted a media availability in Skyview Ranch on Friday to voice concerns about insurance and introduce a petition urging the government to better address the issue.
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Harlin Kaur, a resident of Cornerstone who helped organize the gathering, said her family and several others have recently been rejected for insurance policy renewals.
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She said her family attempted to renew their home insurance policy earlier this month, but were told by their provider they would not be covered anymore due to the number of claims in the northeast.
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Her family submitted a $45,000 insurance claim after their home was damaged by hail last summer.
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“They’re not even providing alternatives,” Kaur said. “They’re not saying, ‘OK, we’ll up your deductible and we’ll give you insurance.’ No, they were right out saying we will not be insuring your property because of the number of hail claims.”
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Kaur added her family received a quote from one insurance provider of $21,000 a year, which is equivalent to their annual mortgage payments.
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After being rejected by nine different companies, Kaur said her family did eventually find a new insurance provider, but now have a deductible of $10,000, in addition to premiums that rose from $180 a month to $580.
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“This is a huge crisis right now and we need to work together as a community to see what we can do,” she said.
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‘This risk of hail is a question of when, not if.’
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More than 60,000 homes were damaged by supercell hailstorms last August that tore through a large swath of north Calgary, generating more than 130,000 claims and causing roughly $3.25 billion in insurable damages. It marked the second-costliest insurance event in Canada’s history, after the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire.
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Last year’s hailstorms followed a 2020 storm in northeast Calgary that resulted in an estimated $1.3 billion in damages and more than 70,000 claims.
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In total, hail damage in Calgary has generated more than $5 billion worth of insurance claims in the past five years, according to an official with the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).
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“That’s tens of thousands of dollars per household, on average,” said Aaron Sutherland, the bureau’s vice-president. “Folks who have seen multiple claims may be seeing pressure on their premiums.