In the wake of rainfall and flooding that impacted parts of southern Ontario when the remnants of Hurricane Beryl caused more than 98 millimeters of rain to fall in just a few hours on July 16, Ontario’s insurance regulator, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) announced new, temporary measures to expedite the claims process for those affected.
On July 18 the regulator announced that it will allow Ontario insurers to use the services of employees of affiliated insurers until October 31, 2024. It also will allow licensed adjusting firms to use claims adjusters with licenses from outside of Ontario until that time, as well.
“Insurers and adjusting firms who wish to use these temporary measures must contact FSRA to confirm the requirements of the temporary measure before proceeding,” the regulator states.
The high volume of claims is expected by some to reach more than $1-billion – this, according to a recent report from Morningstar DBRS which compared the event’s damages to the losses experienced during similar flooding in the area on July 8, 2013, adjusted for inflation.
The amount was confirmed by representatives from the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) who add that it generally takes 45 days from the day of the event to collect preliminary estimates. “From a logistics standpoint, it does take some time to properly assess the claims and determine a more accurate estimate,” Andrew Bartucci, director of external communications with the IBC told the Insurance Portal in an email. “This is a big event. (It) could potentially surpass $1-billion in insured losses.”
With files from Alain Castonguay.
Related:
Insured losses around $1-billion estimated for Toronto flooding
