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To mark the launch of its upcoming consumer flood education campaign set for this spring and summer, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has released a factsheet detailing key flood findings for the province of Ontario.
IBC conducted a survey and found that the majority of Ontario homeowners said that they either do not have flood coverage or know for sure if they are covered – 45% of homeowners with a ground-level home think they have flood insurance as part of their regular home insurance policy, while 23% do not know if they have flood coverage.
The survey also found that only 37% of homeowners in the province feel confident in their level of knowledge about what is and is not covered in their home insurance policies. But 46% say they want to have a better understanding of the home insurance policy and coverage.
Most alarmingly, the study discovered that 48% said that they are not planning to take any action to protect their homes from flooding in the coming months. And while 10% of homeowners have a disaster safety kit, 61% of those who do not have such kits said that they are not committed to assembling a kit in the near future.
The study found that insurers play a big role in the education of homeowners on the risks and dangers of flooding. Although 64% of study participants said that they would trust a science and/or flood expert for information on how to reduce flood risks, the second-most-trusted source of flood prevention information identified was insurance companies (54%).
IBC’s Flood Factor campaign will visit various cities across British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario to raise awareness of flood risks and to prepare homeowners for emergencies.
