than in years past. According to Global News,
summer storms in Alberta cause more damage
than all of the other Canadian provinces combined.
Between 2010 and 2017, there was more than
$5 billion in insured damage related to severe
summer weather conditions in Alberta. This
amount accounts for more than sixty-one per cent
of all storm-related insured damage across Canada.
Home insurance policies are reviewed annually
to ensure that the insured value of property is as
accurate and up-to-date as possible, factoring in
Increasing Home Insurance Rates in Alberta
rising material and labour costs and increased risk
Natural Catastrophes
assessments in each area, so that, in the event of a
Over the past several years, Alberta has been
loss, homeowners would have suffi cient coverage
victim to repeat fi res and fl oods. The Alberta
to get back to where they started.
fl oods in 2013 caused billions of dollars in
While nobody likes to see their insurance rates
property damages, and the devastating wildfi res
increase, all of these events and situations put
in Fort McMurray alone caused almost $5 billion pressure on your premium and speak to the basic
in insured damage according to the Canadian
principle of insurance, which is that the losses of
Underwriter. It is estimated that Alberta will face the few are spread amongst the many. As a result,
at least one natural catastrophe per year, making insurance companies annually re-evaluate rates
the province an increasingly high-risk area for
for individual policies based on claims that have
home insurance providers.
happened in your area in the past. A broker’s job
Furthermore, unlike some of Canada’s other
is to assess available coverage from the insurance
provinces, Alberta’s destructive storms occur at
companies they represent in order to off er the
almost any time of year. Storms are also becoming best coverage for the best value. ●
more intense, more violent, and more frequent
population, it accounted for twenty-nine per cent
of automobile thefts nationally in 2016, which
boils down to an average of sixty-two vehicles
being stolen every day in Alberta! Moreover, in
January 2018, one quarter of the stolen vehicles
had their keys inside the vehicle at the time. This
occurrence translates to a signifi cant cost output
for the Alberta insurance industry and contributes
to the industry-wide increase in insurance rates
across the province.
Important Announcement
After August 30, the email addresses you are used to using to
communicate with news&views will no longer work. From September 1
and on, please use these new email addresses for communication.
Contributions may
be sent to:
nvsubmit@arta.net
To contact the
editor, write to:
nveditor@arta.net
news&views AUTUMN 2018 | 61