Adjusters provide update on B.C., N.W.T. wildfires

Wildfires in British Columbia and Northwest Territories continue to present a mixed bag of claims for P&C adjusters.

Claims adjusters are seeing a variety of both residential and commercial losses.

“Major loss, total losses and less severe claims as well,” Walter Waugh, vice president of loss adjusting & global technical services for western Canada with Crawford & Company (Canada), told Canadian Underwriter Wednesday.

“West Kelowna is not entirely clear of the threat of more wildfire either,” Waugh added. “It has been a tense few weeks there and this has impacted not only our clients but our staff on the ground as well.”

In the Northwest Territories, ClaimsPro’s adjusters have not yet accessed the scene as they have been obeying the evacuation orders that are in place, Anita Paulic, the adjusting firm’s director of operations and catastrophe response, told CU earlier this week. The territory has extended a state of emergency that began in mid-August until Sept. 11, although re-entry to Yellowknife, Dettah, N’Dilo and Ingraham Trail started Wednesday.

“To ensure our highways and checkpoints are safe and clear for essential workers until the roads are open to all residents, we ask that the general public NOT try to drive into Yellowknife until the evacuation order is lifted on Wednesday,” the Government of Northwest Territories said Tuesday in a public safety bulletin.

Last week, there was concern that vehicles evacuated to Alberta would attempt to return to the territory while the evacuation order was still in effect. Northwest Territories RCMP spokesman Cpl. Matt Halstead told the Canadian Press police received information that as many as 50 vehicles were planning an unsupported return to the territory.

RCMP warned that breaking an evacuation order could result in up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $5,000, though police said they would try to avoid resorting to charges where possible.

Paulic said adjusters are likely about a week out from accessing the site of N.W.T. wildfires, “based on the information being provided by government and related sources.

“In the meantime, our Cat adjuster response team maintains a state of readiness,” Paulic said. “ClaimsPro is also preparing to have a remote mobile facility stationed locally for clients, insureds and adjusters to use as a centralized communications hub for claims support.”

A person travels in a boat past people walking on the boardwalk as smoke from the McDougall Creek wildfire blankets the area on Okanagan Lake, in Kelowna, B.C., Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

About 70% of the territory’s population, including some 20,000 residents of the capital city of Yellowknife, have been out of their homes for two weeks or more.

In British Columbia, close to 200 buildings have already burned around Lake Okanagan. Last week, Paulic told CU the adjusting firm expected to see a variety of claims from wildfires in Kelowna, ranging from seasonal cottages, trailers and boats to high-value luxury home claims.

DBRS Morningstar has estimated Canadian insurers could see between $700 million and $1.5 billion in insured losses from wildfires in the third quarter of 2023.

Intact Financial Corporation has already projected $570 million in pre-tax losses from Canadian wildfires in 2023 Q3. Definity Financial Corporation said Tuesday that Cat losses in July and August would total $120 million net of reinsurance recoveries and inclusive of reinstatement premiums.

“Although the British Columbia wildfires were the single largest contributor, at least 10 events reached Definity’s catastrophe loss threshold in those two months,” the insurer said in a press release. “The Q3 2023 catastrophe losses will be materially above our original expectation…”

Feature image: A volunteer directs traffic on the road south from Yellowknife in Fort Providence, N.W.T., Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh