Photo: Ariel Corey
McDougall Creek wildfire in Westside Road area burns multiple homes (August 18, 2023)
A West Kelowna family whose three properties were damaged by wildfires in 2023 is now facing higher insurance premiums.
Chelsea Child and her husband Chris own property in West Kelowna’s Traders Cove, which was hit hard by the McDougal Creek wildfire.
They also own land in Shuswap, which was under threat from the Bush Creek East wildfire. The Childs said the house next door to theirs burned down.
The couple owns a third property near the Okanagan Golf Club and was evacuated for three days during the Kelowna wildfires.
“We filed insurance claims against three properties and our insurance company, Westland Insurance, dropped us because of that,” Chelsea Child said.
They looked for other insurance companies, but only one would insure them. The Traders Cove home alone cost $28,000 a year. The house is valued at about $2 million and was previously insured for about $6,000 a year.
“If you don’t pay, you don’t have insurance,” Child said.
“Our insurance company, Westland…we were paid $10,000 at once, but we haven’t left the house since August. So we’re fighting with them. It’s crazy. They just thought we were too expensive.’ Dangerous,” Child said.
The couple eventually agreed to a $28,000 insurance policy on their Traders Cove home, but they soon realized it was too much to pay, the couple said.
“We’re still on the road. We’re still racking up rent bills… We couldn’t afford to pay it. They said if you don’t pay the $6,000 right away, if they don’t catch up with the payments, you… I said I would lose.”I don’t have any insurance. ”
“We chose to have a place to live, not a place to insure,” Child added.
Other insurance companies have since told her $28,000 is a reasonable amount to insure the property, she said.
“I don’t think that’s right. I can understand a slight jump, but three times that is insane. We might just have to go without insurance and hope nothing happens. No, it’s very stressful,” Child added.
by Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC)This summer’s Okanagan wildfires caused more than $720 million in insured losses.
The McDougall Creek and Bush Creek East wildfires are now the costliest insured event ever recorded in British Columbia and the 10th costliest in Canadian history. This was an expensive accident.
The IBC says that while a single wildfire typically won’t automatically affect insurance premiums, multiple fires over several years can.
“Fundamentally, insurance is about risk. These regions, especially in the Okanagan, had some pretty big fires 20 years ago, and 20 years later, we’re facing the exact same situation. ” said national director Rob de Pluy. , consumer and industry relations with IBC.
“I feel like not enough has been done over the last 20 years behind the scenes to reduce that risk, because these homes are still burning,” he added.
De Pluys says the best option for West Kelowna families is to research and consider other brokers and insurance companies.
“As most people would expect, a $400,000 home would be insured for 1x and its value would be doubled, or an $800,000 home would be worth more. , that may be part of the plus content…that’s when you start adding boats, ‘costs like cars and jewelry can add up,’ de Prouis added.
