Many residents in the southeast have made insurance claims after the rain event on Thursday, September 11.
Norma Hiebert, Vice President of Brio Insurance says the following Friday was extremely busy with calls and walk-ins.
“Most of them were either overland flooding coming in through window wells or coming up through the sewer because their system couldn’t handle it, their sump pumps couldn’t handle it.”
Hiebert notes that flooding affected several Steinbach neighborhoods, including Clearspring Greens, Georgetown, and Deerfield, as well as parts of Mitchell.
“So, it was pretty widespread.”
Hiebert says that while many are eligible for coverage, there may be some limits on the policy they have purchased.
“So, depending on what kind of protection service you have in your home, meaning do you have a sewer sump pump, or do you have a backwater valve, those count as how much coverage you are eligible for.”
She says homeowners without a sump pump or backwater valve will likely be limited to about $5,000 in coverage.
“If you have those protective measures in your home, then you can buy more coverage than that. So, it depends on the insurance company, it depends where you live, and it depends on what kind of preventative measures you have taken.”
Hiebert adds that some people may have been denied coverage if they had a previous claim and didn’t complete the extra preventative steps their insurance company required.
“That can impact coverage. Most people, if they have applied for coverage and they were not eligible, they would have been told the reason why. Maybe there are cases where you actually can’t get it, but I personally, I don’t know of any that we came across in our claims that don’t have it and can’t get it. Typically, it is you need to do something to try to prevent it from happening in order to be eligible to buy some coverage.”
Hiebert says the office was also busy with customers who did not experience flooding.
“Disasters always sell insurance. So, whether it’s wildfires or whether it’s floods, that wakes people up to say, ‘I need to check my policy’. So, we did have a number of calls where people didn’t have a claim, but they wanted to check their coverage to make sure that if something happened, they would have coverage.”
She urges residents to stay informed.
“People should read their policies and if they have questions, certainly check with their broker to make sure that they are understanding what they have bought and what is out there to buy.”
See the map below for stories and photos from the rain and flood event:
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