Six months later, most auto insurance claims stemming from Calgary’s Aug. 2024 hailstorm have been completed, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) notes in a recent press release.
The home repair pace, meanwhile, tells a different story.
Calgary and its environs saw nearly 60,000 homes damaged by the hailstorm. That volume of repairs has strained availability of both contractor services and building supplies across the Calgary region.
Insurers will keep working with their customers to complete repairs, IBC notes, adding the vast majority of them are expected to be finished this spring and summer.
“Impacted customers have seen progress on their insurance claims following last summer’s hailstorm, but there’s still a lot of work to do as repairing damaged homes and businesses on a scale this large will take time,” Aaron Sutherland, IBC’s vice president of the Pacific and Western region, says in the release.
He tells Canadian Underwriter that while the storm has stressed adjuster resources, the issue on the home restoration side is largely keyed to availability of contractors, home builders and roofers to complete the work.
“Calgary is in a bit of a housing boom – with a record amount of housing under construction,” Sutherland adds. “So there is a lot of demand on the same resources needed to repair properties from hail damage, making it harder to get enough qualified workers to do the jobs.”
He says data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation “suggest that 20,000 units were under development in 2024, 20% more than the previous annual record.”
Related: Calgary hailstorm ranks Canada’s 2nd-worst NatCat of all time
One possible factor driving the scale of claims is new residential and commercial development around Calgary over recent decades. And a new report from global risk-modelling firm Aon finds risk of hail events is increasing in that region.
Noting areas of the city have seen “staggering urban development in recent decades,” the report cites new residential neighbourhoods and commercial and industrial properties such as the Calgary International Airport as examples.
Aon’s analysis of the Aug. 5 hailstorm’s footprint indicates the affected area was primarily agricultural land 40 years ago.
Heavy costs associated with the storm have one Calgary city councillor recommending reintroduction of a resilient roofing program. He suggested amendments to building code requirements or bringing back the roof rebate program could help ensure more resilient homes.
Latest revised estimates put total insured losses for the Aug. 5, 2024 hailstorm at an estimated $3.25 billion, according to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). That makes it the second-costliest disaster in Canadian history for insured losses and resulted in more than 130,000 insurance claims.
Auto claims status
Meanwhile, auto claims account for more than half the claims from the storm, IBC notes. And Alberta insurers were able to bring in adjusters from across the province to conduct vehicle assessments and repairs.
Latest estimates put auto losses close to $1 billion, and hail damage was so intense that about half of the vehicles damaged were total losses.
Feature image by iStock/aquaArts studio
