'Canada is becoming a riskier place to insure,' says IBC vice president
, BNN Bloomberg
Extreme weather events such as the wildfires prompting evacuations the Northwest Territories this week will likely lead to costlier home insurance premiums, according to the vice president at Canada’s Insurance Bureau, particularly in Western Canada where wildfires have intensified.
The country is suffering from climate change impacts that will leave insurers no choice but to raise protection costs, Craig Stewart, vice president of climate change and federal issues at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, told BNN Bloomberg.
“Unfortunately, Canada is becoming a risker place to insure,” he said in a television interview on Thursday. “It’s quite possible that those in Western Canada will see their premiums going up as the auctorial analysis is undertaken after all these wildfire events.”
MOUNTING PAYOUTS
Over the last 15 years, insured loss payouts in Canada have climbed roughly five-fold, with last year reaching a record $3.4 billion in payouts, Stewart said.
“We’ve seen insured losses rise from about an average of $400 million a year in payouts prior to 2009, to over $1 billion dollars a year from 2010 to about 2018,” he said.
“Now we’re seeing losses total about $2 billion on average per year.”
The losses are not attributed to just one catastrophic event, Stewart explained. They are due to a combination of intensified floods, wildfires and hail storms among other extreme weather patterns that have intensified over the years due to climate change.
REBUILDING CHALLENGES
To make matters more complicated, rebuilding communities destroyed in remote regions of Canada poses its own set of challenges, Stewart noted.
“There just isn’t a lot of contractors. We’re already having a labour shortage of homebuilding contractors in this country right now,” he warned.
The country is suffering from climate change impacts that will leave insurers no choice but to raise protection costs, Craig Stewart, vice president of climate change and federal issues at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, told BNN Bloomberg.
“Unfortunately, Canada is becoming a risker place to insure,” he said in a television interview on Thursday. “It’s quite possible that those in Western Canada will see their premiums going up as the auctorial analysis is undertaken after all these wildfire events.”
MOUNTING PAYOUTS
Over the last 15 years, insured loss payouts in Canada have climbed roughly five-fold, with last year reaching a record $3.4 billion in payouts, Stewart said.
“We’ve seen insured losses rise from about an average of $400 million a year in payouts prior to 2009, to over $1 billion dollars a year from 2010 to about 2018,” he said.
“Now we’re seeing losses total about $2 billion on average per year.”
The losses are not attributed to just one catastrophic event, Stewart explained. They are due to a combination of intensified floods, wildfires and hail storms among other extreme weather patterns that have intensified over the years due to climate change.
REBUILDING CHALLENGES
To make matters more complicated, rebuilding communities destroyed in remote regions of Canada poses its own set of challenges, Stewart noted.
“There just isn’t a lot of contractors. We’re already having a labour shortage of homebuilding contractors in this country right now,” he warned.
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