Insurance hard to get during fire
Some Okanagan home buyers may Ànd insurance is harder to obtain with fires raging all around them.
Many insurance companies do not sell home insurance policies for customers living within a certain range of the threat, such as a wildÀre or a Áood, said Aaron Sutherland, vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
“Insurance is there for unexpected events,” he said. “If a wildÀre is happening in and around your community, if you’re under evacuation alert or if there’s a wildfire in the vicinity of your home, that’s no longer an unforeseen event; that is a very real and a very notable risk.”
While it is up to each insurance company, many choose not to sell policies to people within a certain radius of an active wildfire, often within 25 kilometres, said Sutherland.
If a company does sell home insurance to people in an active wildÀre zone, it will likely be more expensive, he said.
“These events are an important reminder of the importance of insurance to protect yourself Ànancially from risk year-round.”
Sutherland emphasized home insurance renewals are not affected by blackout periods.
“If you have a policy come up for renewal while you’re under evacuation alert or if there’s a Àre in the immediate proximity, that’s typically not affected,” he said. “They’re not going to drop you.”
Calgary resident Sandy MacLeod ran into trouble buying insurance when he Ànalized his purchase of a Peachland condo this week.
“I was looking for contents insurance, but they could not issue me a policy at this time because of the Àres,” he said. “They gave me a quote for the insurance . . . and they will get back to me when the Àre is over.”
While his condo building has insurance, it does not cover personal belongings or improvements made to the unit.
MacLeod does not take possession of his condo until the end of August, and said he hopes he is able to purchase an insurance policy by then.
“There have been $20,000 or $30,000 worth of improvements to the condo that I bought,” he said. “If it were lost in a Àre, I’d be out $20,000 or $30,000.”
For buyers purchasing a single-family home, there is typically an insurance clause, making the sale subject to being able to purchase insurance, said Sutherland.
“It’s really important to have that in there, because if the transaction does occur while a wildÀre is in the proximity, that gives the buyer protection,” he said. “They are able to perhaps move out the closing period of that sale until they are able to obtain insurance.”
While it may delay the transaction, it should not affect a buyer’s ability to purchase a home, as long as the insurance clause is in the contract, he said.