Legal claims against city down due to pandemic

Legal claims against the city dropped significantly during 2020, one of the few benefits of being submerged in a global pandemic.

“Generally, with fewer users of our roads, fewer users of our buses, fewer users of community centres or any sort of city facility, the less exposure you have for an incident to even arise,” said deputy city solicitor Dana Paladino, referring to her annual report on Risk Management costs and statistics for 2020 which went to council Monday.

The number of claims made by people who blame the city for their injuries or damages — from such mishaps as driving over potholes, tripping on sidewalk cracks and city trees falling on houses or cars — totalled 296 in 2020. That's down significantly from any of the previous four years. The totals were 379 in 2019, 489 in 2018, 349 in 2017 and 683 in 2016, when massive flooding on Sept. 29 of that year prompted 401 claims for flooded basements.

The drop in claims in 2020 reflects people using many city facilities less during the pandemic, Paladino said.

Road condition claims (mostly from potholes) numbered just 15 in 2020. In the previous four years they ranged from 39 to 185. The 19 claims for injuries allegedly suffered while riding the bus was about half what it normally is. Transit Windsor shut down for a month at the start of the pandemic last year and has been providing reduced service ever since. Most city indoor facilities like arenas and community centres were closed for most of 2020, but with fewer options available, many people have upped their use of outdoor city facilities, particularly sidewalks.

The number of claims for trips and falls sat at 41 in 2020, which is around average. Meanwhile, slips and falls, which happen almost entirely in winter, were down considerably at 13, less than half what they usually number. All 13 happened in January and February of 2020, prior to the pandemic's arrival. When it arrived in March many people stayed inside until the weather improved.

Claims for falling trees or branches numbered 70 in 2020, which is significantly higher than most years when they ranged between 45 and 59. This was due to one bad thunderstorm in June when damage from trees resulted in 15 claims.

All 296 claims received by the city in 2020 have been investigated. They have been or will be paid in full, partially paid or denied, “depending on the extent of the city's liability,” the report says.

But while the city enjoyed fewer legal claims in 2020, insurance premiums for the city are going up 22 per cent this year to $5.4 million for a policy that has a $250,000 deductible. And the total cost of claims paid out by the city, not including what their insurance company paid, hit a peak in 2020 of $3 million. That's up from $1.9 million in 2019 and $2.4 million in 2018 but lower than in 2017 ($3.3 million) and 2016 ($4.1 million). Paladino said in 2020 there were a couple of large personal injury claims settled. But another reason for hitting the $3 million mark had to do with COVID.

“Originally, the courts were closed, a lot of the legal world kind of came to a halt,” during the pandemic, she said. “So we were finding that plaintiffs' counsel were kind of reviving claims they hadn't worked on for a while, seeing if they could resolve them.”

As a result, the city settled more claims from previous years than they might have otherwise, she said, explaining that many of the payouts are for claims filed a few years earlier.

The city budgets $3 million annually to pay out claims.

Insurance premiums rose 8.5 per cent in 2020, largely due to the city purchasing a new line of coverage to protect against emerging threats to its information technology and operations. This year, premiums “have significantly increased,” according to Paladino, by 22 per cent.

“The insurance industry is in what is referred to as a `hard market,'” she wrote in her report, explaining that a hard market happens when there is high demand for insurance and a reduced supply. “During a hard market, insurance rates go up industry-wide.”

She said the pandemic contributed to this hard market, due to an eruption of business interruption claims made throughout North American and the U.K.

The city actually makes very few claims to its insurance company, due to its large deductible.

The city has made an insurance claim for the rash of vandalism attacks on outdoor artwork along the riverfront last year, as well as for losses arising from the November 2019 Westcourt Place fire. The city also made claims in 2020 for the damage done to Lakeview Marina's docks due to rising water levels (council approved spending $5 million to replace them with a floating system), as well as a claim for a damaged centrifuge at the Lou Romano water reclamation plant.

“Really our loss history is not bad,” Paladino said, when asked why Windsor's premiums are rising by 22 per cent. “So it's primarily driven by market factors.”