Some Lac-Megantic, Quebec brokers reacted so quickly to a deadly train derailment and subsequent crude oil explosion that their clients didn’t even know they’d already acted on their behalf.
A runaway train carrying a huge shipment of crude oil cargo derailed in the early morning of July 6, triggering a series of explosions that destroyed many buildings in the downtown area of Lac-Megantic.
The tragedy killed 13 people in a community of 6,000 people, and 40 are reported missing. The cause of the derailment is still under investigation.
Only one hour after explosions, brokers at FGL Assurances met in their Lac-Megantic office to discuss how they were going to deal with the pending damage claims.
“While the fire was burning and the explosions were happening, it was a war zone here,” said Michel Plante of FGL Assurances. “We talked about what we could do, and on Saturday [July 6] we decided exactly what to do.”
“We knew there would be many claims, but we didn’t know what the claims would be,” Plante said. “We wanted them to be right on the spot on Monday morning [July 8].”
The brokers also worked hard to identify people and businesses that would likely be making claims.
“We knew exactly where the people who would have some claims lived, so we searched on the computers and we found the people who would have some claims and we made lists,” Plante said.
“We even sent some claims to insurance companies while insureds didn’t even know we made the claims. We knew their offices would have a claim, it was obvious. So we submitted the claims immediately because we wanted to be very, very efficient for that kind of damage.”
As a result of the brokerage’s strategy, some insureds received their cheques on July 8, just two days after the explosion destroyed a sizeable section of the town’s downtown core area.
Life insurers in the area are also proceeding quickly. Normally if a person goes missing, insureds must wait seven years before submitting a claim. Local authorities have indicated to life insurance brokers that it could take up to 300 days to identify the missing in Lac-Megantic.
Life insurance agents in the area have authority from their insurers to move ahead quicker than that.
“The office in Quebec said to us, ‘If you have any calls making claims in case of death, write “Lac-Megantic disaster,” and we will proceed,’” said Peter Manning, who works with two others in the Lac-Megantic office of Industrial Alliance. “Everyone knows everyone in Lac-Megantic. That’s the only proof [required that someone has disappeared].”
The RCCAQ confirmed to Insurance Business that none of its broker members in the area are listed among the dead or the missing.
“The magnitude of this type of disaster is pretty hard to get your head around,” said Ted Harman, secretary-treasurer of the RCCAQ. “To think that the entire downtown of a small town is basically vapourized – I mean the images are horrifying.”
For a broker, he continued, “it’s really, really overwhelming to be put in a situation when the magnitude of stuff is difficult to understand. There is almost so much work to do, you wonder where to start…
“I know I found a lot of solace through the Ice Storm [in 1998] that we were making a positive difference in people’s lives. I think that’s something that a lot of brokers will come back to.”
The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has set up its Community Assistance Mobile Pavilion in Lac-Megantic to answer insurance questions and help people who have lost their homes and their policies contact their insurers.
“The human toll is tragic, and the scope of the catastrophe is quite large,” said IBC spokesman Pierre Babinsky. “We’re seeing it is mostly businesses that are affected, and some residences. I would hazard a guess around 15 to 20 houses or residential units.
“There were a lot of people displaced and forced to evacuate – I think in the range of 2,000 people. About 800 or so were allowed to return to their homes. They lived further from their site.
“My understanding is that there are still 1,000 to 1,200 people still displaced, but they are staying with friends, relatives, and acquaintances.
“We’re getting questions, mostly from people who were evacuated, about temporary lodging, expenses, food, and displacement – anything related to that. If they were ordered to evacuate, and they have home insurance, usually it would be covered.”
It is too early to tell what the final damage estimate may be, although some point out the scope of the damage in Lac-Megantic is smaller than the wildfire damage in Slave Lake, Alberta, which cost insurers approximately $700 million. The oil spill in Lac-Megantic, on the other hand, will be expensive and time-consuming.
Photo Source: Radio Canada
