Yahoo! Finance Canada - Nasty weather conditions in Canada has cost insurers more than $1 billion this year, with a summer storm in Alberta ranking as the most expensive.
In mid August, wind, flooding and hail storms battered Calgary and surrounding areas. Torrential downpours and wind gusts reaching more than 100 kilometres per hour reportedly left broken windows and fallen trees. The storm helped to push up the insured damages to $552 million, says the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
The impact of Superstorm Sandy was also of note. Parts of Ontario and Quebec were hit as the storm swept the U.S. Northeast.
The total damages incurred in 2012 are estimated at $1.19 billion, remaining at similar elevated levels over the past several years, the bureau says. In 2011, damages were at $1.7 billion and $915 million in 2010. In 2009, the damages were just under $1 billion.
"These types of weather events can have a devastating impact on communities, the safety of their residents and the protection of their property," said Heather Mack, IBC's director of government relations in Alberta.
The numbers reflect the estimates reported by Property Claim Services Canada, a service that tracks insured losses arising from catastrophic events in Canada.
Steve Kee, a spokesman at IBC in Toronto, said the key type of payouts are typically related to bigger-ticket property items.
"You're going to see a combination of home, business and auto insurance claims. These are what we call the catastrophic damages," he said.
