Industry Gauges Tornado’s Aftermath in Ontario

Terri Goveia | August 21, 2009

Violent winds tore roofs off houses, flipped cars and uprooted entire trees during a tornado that cut a swath through Ontario August 20.

Insurance brokers and claims adjusters are assessing the aftermath of the storm, which damaged an estimated 600 homes in Vaughan, Ontario—just north of Toronto-- along with homes and businesses in Durham, Ontario, the province’s two hardest-hit areas.

Claims began arriving at Aviva Canada Inc.’s claims centres soon after the storm hit. The company could not divulge numbers, but “a lot of calls are coming in,” says Glenn Cooper, senior manager, public relations, who says the claims—mostly wind and water damage—ranged from damage from flying debris and lawn furniture to major roof damage. But the picture could get worse. “A roof torn from a house could mean that the house is gone.”

Many companies are slowly piecing together the extent of the damage.
“Claims are starting to come in,” says Ian Blair, director of external communications at Intact Financial Corp.  The company’s brokers and claims adjusters were surveying the affected areas on August 21, the morning after the storm. Although its claims centre wasn’t overwhelmed with claims, he expected claims activity to go up as the clean-up progressed, noting that cottage owners heading north for the weekend might find some damage waiting for them. “We’re going to be very busy for the next few days.”

Most of the damage affected homes and vehicles. By late morning, State Farm Insurance had received over 100 storm-related homeowner claims, ranging from lost roofs to damaged siding, says Pete Karageorgos, the company’s spokesman.  Policyholders in the area also reported auto damage, but the figures on auto claims weren’t available.

“It’s still too early to put a dollar figure on damages,” says Karageorgos. “This early, we just want to make sure everyone is safe.”

At Belpac Capri Insurance Brokers/Isure.com in Vaughan,  Bob Davidson, vice president of commercial lines, says his brokers had contacted all personal and commercial policyholders in the most heavily damaged neighbourhoods there. By 10 am Friday morning, he had heard of damage to homes—mostly blown out windows--but “we don’t have a lot of claims in.”

On the commercial side, claims staff at HKMB-HUB International has seen “one or two” commercial claims for power outages so far, according to Mike Moyer, senior claims specialist.

The storm also passed through Newmarket, Ontario, but at Smith, Williams and Bateman, the claims staff had only handled one auto claim stemming from the storm a day later, according to Stephanie Siegel, personal lines manager.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) set up two command centres in community centre in Vaughan, and in neighbouring Maple to address homeowner’s insurance questions. “We’re trying to help them understand what they may or may not be covered for,” says Peter Warner, the bureau’s acting manager for consumer relations. He points out that many may not realize they may have coverage for additional living expenses—many families have been displaced-- or know about the bureau’s consumer information hotline.

Though funnel clouds were spotted near downtown Toronto, Karageorgos said State Farm had not heard of any buildings damaged there.

Environment Canada officials have ranked the storm as an F2 tornado, which packs winds between 113 to 157 miles per hour.