Lacey Crickard wasn’t sure if she could take the interview related to her company’s experience right now, given the active wildfires in Newfoundland and Labrador. The vice president at Wedgwood Insurance said if one evacuation alert in particular became an outright evacuation order, she’d need to reschedule. But for the moment at least, things didn’t get worse.

Atlantic Business Magazine spoke to Crickard shortly after the latest update on August 12 by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The official report noted more burned properties and new warnings for thousands more people to be ready for evacuations due to wildfires, on top of those already forced from their homes and cabins.

To no one’s surprise, the locally owned insurer is getting more calls. Crickard said there’s been a sharp uptick in questions about coverage.

A main question is whether or not wildfires are considered an Act of God. More to the point, if their property insurance policies would cover damage from one of the fires pushing into the towns and cities here. It’s happening across Atlantic Canada.

Crickard didn’t hesitate. “If you have fire coverage on your policy, you are covered for wildfires.”

She encouraged people to contact their insurer – whatever insurer that may be – with any and all of their questions. In Wedgwood’s case, she explained, policy holders are assigned dedicated account managers and they’ve so far been handling the uptick in contacts “quite well.” For added help, people normally dedicated to proactive call outs, checking on insurance details and offering policy upgrades, have been shifted to taking incoming calls.

Check your policies

In terms of what else they’re hearing, Crickard said they’re getting more detailed questions as time rolls on and the firefights continue. That’s likely a signal people are checking through their policy information. That’s a good thing.

There’s been more questions in the last few days related to help with living expenses – in the event of being displaced from your property because of fire. In that instance, she said, standard policies will cover living expenses, though there are differences depending on the policy and the insurer, so it’s one of those details to look for in your policy information.

Something else mentioned that might not be commonly known or thought of is how the presence of a wildfire deemed “out of control” can affect the ability of all insurers to offer certain additions to existing coverage, or new insurance policies.

“It does limit our ability to put coverage in place,” Crickard said, adding insurers will vary in the distance at which the rule applies, but all have the restriction in place, as far as she is aware. The ability to issue coverage returns as any nearby fire is deemed under control or no longer out of control.

A part of the community

It’s a tense time. Crickard said the main priority right now is the safety of people in the many communities where fire has approached or raged through.

‘We are their neighbours,” she said.

Throughout Atlantic Canada, people are doing their best to manage. Some have had to leave work to gather what belongings they can and prepare to leave their homes, or support family members who have seen losses or have been forced to leave their homes.

“Our hearts go out to everybody affected,” Crickard said.

She added a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the first responders and ongoing efforts of fire and emergency services.

Wedgwood isn’t the only insurance company in the region, and N.L. isn’t alone in this situation.

As of the end of the day Tuesday, there were nine active fires covering roughly 11,000 hectares of Eastern Newfoundland, with additional areas affected on the Western portion of the island and in Labrador. There were 12 active fires in New Brunswick, including one out of control fire about 1,100 hectares in size near Miramichi and another just over 50 hectares at Irishtown, about 15 minutes from Moncton. In Nova Scotia, a fire approaching Halifax’s Bayers Lake Business Park forced people from businesses and led to a precautionary closure of the Bayers Lake Community Outpatient Centre. This latter fire received strong response through the day, keeping it to about 10 hectares as of last report before deadline.

Additional insurance reminders

On Tuesday afternoon, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) issued a notice with practical reminders on insurance, noting the wildfires now active in Atlantic Canada.

“If evacuated, be prepared to be away from home for more than just a day or two, and be sure to keep all receipts related to your evacuation expenses,” said IBC’s vice-president for Atlantic, Amanda Dean, in the public statement.

“While safety remains a top priority, insurers are ready to assist and will be there every step of the way,” she stated.

 

The IBC says insurance policies cover fire damage even if the fire started on a neighbouring property, as long as it was not started by the policy holder.

In terms of living expenses, the organization noted, homeowner’s and standard tenant’s insurance policies both cover “reasonable additional living expenses for a specified period of time.” The bottom line again: check your policy.

For business owners, again per the IBC, insurers do offer business interruption or business income insurance, typically as an add-on to existing business property insurance. The add-on helps to cover lost earnings during an unexpected shut down.

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