First of all, fire is a risk that is covered by an insurance premium, reassures Michèle Pelletier, attorney at the New Brunswick Office of Consumer Advocate for Insurance.
If your home has been damaged or completely burned down by a forest fire, a claim must be made to your insurance company.
The first thing, […] is to make an inventory of all the goods that we have inside the house
explains Michèle Pelletier.
An exercise that can be very difficult to do when you take into account the number of things in a house.
We will have to prove to the insurance company all the losses we have.
To do this, Michèle Pelletier recommends, as far as possible, to perform this exercise before evacuation. Better safe, she says.
” If I took my smartphone and filmed everything inside the house that I belong to, it is really something that is good and will help you in case of an injury. »
Note that some insurance companies also cover the costs associated with an evacuation, such as accommodation and food, if an evacuation notice has been issued by the province, maintains Michèle Pelletier.
Emergency evacuation: When should you contact your insurance company?
During an immediate evacuation, it is of course not possible to make this calculation. Safety comes first. Michèle Pelletier explains that it will therefore be necessary to try to remember all the possessions that are in your house, in every closet, every wardrobe, every office, in order to make an inventory of the damaged goods.
jours à faire notre demande [de réclamation]”,”text”:”On a habituellement 180jours à faire notre demande [de réclamation]”}}”>We usually have 180 days to apply [de réclamation]
she adds.
For residents evacuated to Nova Scotia, Michèle Pelletier maintains that it is possible to contact your insurance company at any time. However, the claims process cannot begin until you have returned to the scene to assess the damage.
Authorities are battling a wildfire near Little Harbor in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, on Wednesday.
Photo: Courtesy/Roddy Conrad
But the insurance companies will be on the lookout, the insurance companies know when there are disasters like this, they’re already ready and usually they’ll put in extra people to help them because they know they’re going to have a lot of calls
she says.
Heading for an increase in insurance premiums?
Michèle Pelletier points out that insurance companies set their prices according to the statistics of the province where they are located. Thus, as a general rule, fires in Nova Scotia should not affect insurance premiums for businesses in New Brunswick.
However, according to her, insurance premiums can still increase in a given area. We know that the principle of insurance is that more insured people pay for fewer damages.
When there are major disasters like that we can expect everyone’s premiums to go up, it’s a shame, but yes, that’s the principle of insurance.
With information from Telejournal Acadie
