In the wake of the catastrophic flooding that hit British Columbia, Aviva Canada is providing monetary assistance to homeowners in the region –including those who do not have flood insurance.
The insurer is offering a one-time payment of $2,500 for those who are being evacuated from their primary residence. The money is meant to be used for additional living expenses as the affected homeowners relocate in the short term. Aviva noted that, typically, customers are only covered for additional living expenses if they have purchased overland flood insurance.
"It's a difficult time for our customers in BC right now and Aviva is on the ground to help. We are working with our broker partners to get the money quickly to impacted customers' bank accounts, to help alleviate some of the stress they are facing," said Aviva Canada CEO Jason Storah. "We'll get our customers back into their homes as soon as conditions permit. That's what we are here for."
Aviva Canada’s financial support offer comes after the insurer had pledged to donate $50,000 to the Canadian Red Cross, in support of the charity organization’s flood relief efforts in BC. The insurer also said that it would double match all donations made by its employees towards the Red Cross.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has noted that flood insurance is a fairly recent insurance product in Canada, having been introduced in 2015. But the bureau has also warned that current flood insurance policies cannot cover all the possible risks related to flood incidents, such as storm surge and coastal erosion.
