Millions of Canadians are under-insured and don’t even realize it until the time comes to make a claim.
 
With the mercury climbing, and flooding more likely, Spring is a good time for homeowners to check their policies cover all that they think they do. Water damage -- the leading cause for home insurance claims in Canada – is a perfect example of an area where homeowners are often surprised to find their coverage is more limited than they realized. For example a policy might only cover leaks that originate within the home. It can be an especially financially devastating form of damage and might only be covered up to a certain amount under the terms of the policy.
 
As snow and ice turn to water and rain, now is a great time for you to do a health check with clients – and maybe remind them that extreme weather events are getting more likely. As long ago as 2008 Canadian experts were predicting worse weather stating in a national report“extreme weather events are a key concern for Canada, and there is growing confidence that some types of extreme events will increase in frequency and/or intensity as the climate continues to warm.” Last year catastrophic losses were close to $1Bn in Canada – and most of this was water damage.

A great touchpoint for existing clients is to remind them that the thaw is coming and get them to refresh their annual home inventory – do they have enough coverage if the worst happens?

So this year we’ll get the usual deluges – but there’s a good chance that the new usual is going to be worse.