Claims

Calgary house explosion believed not accidental

CALGARY – Documents show that a Calgary house where there was a deadly explosion over the weekend was owned by a couple going through a divorce. Police responded to reports of an explosion on Saturday afternoon and found two people dead and one injured at the suburban northwest home. Investigators believe the blast was not […]

By Greg Meckbach | May 28, 2019

1 min read

Claims

Does an earthquake endorsement cover sinkhole damage?

If a home collapses into a sinkhole, is there coverage under a standard homeowner’s policy or earthquake endorsement? Not under many homeowner’s policies, but possibly under the earthquake endorsement, depending on the policy language and if the quake caused the sinkhole. “Our understanding is that [standard homeowner policies] usually contain some form of an earth […]

By Jason Contant | May 28, 2019

2 min read

Claims

Why off-road vehicles could get more mileage in Ontario

If you insure off-road vehicles in Ontario, some of those machines could soon be driven more frequently on the road. Bill 107, which would ease restrictions on driving off-road vehicles on municipal roads, passed second reading and was referred Tuesday to the Standing Committee on General Government. If passed into law, Bill 107 would change […]

By Greg Meckbach | May 27, 2019

4 min read

Claims

Where wildfire and flood risk is higher this summer

The weather this summer could be starkly different across the country, according to the latest long range forecast from The Weather Network. Chief meteorologist Chris Scott predicts the wet weather that Ontario and Quebec have experienced in May will continue during the summer months and could lead to a heightened risk of flash flooding in […]

By Greg Meckbach | May 27, 2019

3 min read

How this province is tackling inconsistent adjuster licensing

Will there soon be a consistent approach to adjuster licensing across Canada? New Brunswick is one province moving towards that goal. Earlier this month, the Insurance Division of New Brunswick’s Financial and Consumer Services Commission released a consultation paper on licensing of adjusters and damage appraisers in the province, with proposed changes to the definition […]

3 min read

This restoration contracting acquisition should close by summer

FirstOnSite and Paul Davis will have the same corporate owner if a deal announced Thursday goes through but will operate separately from one another. FirstOnSite Restoration Limited announced May 23 that its corporate parent, Global Restoration Holdings LLC, agreed to be acquired by Toronto-based FirstService Corporation, which acquired Paul Davis Systems Canada in 2014. Both […]

2 min read

Almost 3,800 businesses in three regions at risk from flooding: StatCan

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says almost 3,800 business locations were at risk of being affected by spring flooding in three of the hardest hit regions of the country. About 1,500 were potentially affected as of the end of April in the Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac region about 40 kilometres northwest of Montreal, 1,500 in the Ottawa-Gatineau region (1,086 […]

1 min read

How Chuckegg Creek Wildfire could affect Canadian insurers

The wildfire affecting northern Alberta is much larger than the one that devastated Slave Lake in 2011 but property losses seemed minimal on Thursday afternoon. “At this point we are hearing there are no major structures that have been lost,” Rob de Pruis, the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s director of consumer and industry relations for […]

2 min read

Aviva loses $7-million coverage dispute over sexual abuse liability

Canada’s top court said today it will not hear an appeal from Aviva Canada of a ruling in favour of a New Brunswick church diocese. L’Évêque catholique romain de Bathurst, a diocese that oversees Roman Catholic parishes in the northeastern part of the province, earlier paid $7 million in settlements to dozens of survivors of […]

4 min read

School bus accident on highway injures 12

EDMONTON -Twelve people, including 11 children, were taken to hospital Thursday after a school bus crash on one of Edmonton’s busiest freeways. Emergency officials said the collision happened at about 8:15 a.m. on Whitemud Drive near the Quesnell Bridge over the North Saskatchewan River. Alberta Health Services said there were no life-threatening injuries. “Two patients […]

2 min read