What brokers can learn from the Jasper wildfire

When a wildfire devastates a community, brokers step up. Not just with insurance policy support, but with guidance and empathy.  

It’s what Alberta brokers did during this summer’s extreme wildfires in Jasper, and Jhnel Weller-Hannaway, CEO of the Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta, shares insights about the role brokers play to prepare clients before and after natural disasters. 

“Behind every policy is a person, a family, a business, each with their own unique concerns, hopes and challenges,” Weller-Hannaway said at IBAOCon’24 in Toronto this week.  

“While insurance is often seen as a transaction, during a NatCat event like the Jasper wildfires, we’re often reminded that insurance is ultimately about the people.” 

The broker’s role before and during a wildfire 

A broker’s response starts before any wildfire has taken place. That’s when the broker prepares clients and the coverage for what may happen. 

“Preparation prior to a significant wildfire event is key, and there are three main focus areas that I think brokers need to pay attention to when talking preparedness,” Weller-Hannaway says. 

First, brokers prepare their clients by assessing coverage gaps, providing valuation advice, and risk mitigation recommendations, among other things. An example would be “encouraging your clients to have an emergency readiness pack which holds all their important documents,” she says. 

Second, brokers must prepare their own operations to adequately support their community. That includes the creation of emergency resource materials, evacuation orders for your office, remote access to files, and more.  

“This becomes even more critical if you’re a small- to mid-sized brokerage whose business is impacted by an evacuation order,” says Weller-Hannaway. 

And third, “what procedures do you have in place for your brokers or your staff? When should they make contact with clients? What are their individual roles during the crisis, and how frequently are they expected to have touch points or follow-ups?” 

Then evacuation orders come in, and panic within the community sets in, as Weller-Hannaway describes. All the while, during the immediate chaos of a wildfire, brokers act as advocates for their clients. 

“Brokers often provide assistance in many different ways,” she says. “Some of the most important are providing temporary solutions quickly, like housing, food or basic supplies, which becomes critical in a mass evacuation.” 

Brokers also help clients navigate rapidly changing information, she says. “Correcting false information becomes critical, and it’s where our association steps in; utilizing websites, local community Facebook pages…working together with the [Insurance Bureau of Canada] to disseminate information.” 

After the storm 

When residents are allowed to return from evacuation, a coordinated broker effort can help smooth re-entry into the damaged community.  

“There are definitely other challenges brokers face, particularly during large-scale disasters like Jasper —  from dealing with high-volume claims to complex claims, uninsured and underinsured clients, they’re all overwhelming — while you yourself or your staff may also be experiencing loss,” says Weller-Hannaway. 

So, having pre-existing re-entry or recovery information to deliver to clients through automated texts or emails can reduce the immediate, and overwhelming, workload. 

Staff should also be well-versed and knowledgeable about government assistance programs or relief funds to share with their clients. 

Post-event, the layers of complicated bureaucracy can be a trip. In Jasper, for example, rebuilding in Jasper will be a multi-year commitment due to the town’s 100-year-old leasing arrangement and stringent rules around development on Parks Canada land. 

Then comes the actual rebuild.  

“The road to recovery and rebuilding is typically long and arduous,” says Weller-Hannaway. “Especially in the case of Jasper, where there are three levels of government involved, it becomes imperative [for] brokers [to] provide continued support, even after the cameras disappear.” 

Thus, setting realistic timelines and expectations helps clients understand the challenges of rebuilding. Clients need to hear from their brokers that they aren’t being pushed under the rug by their adjusters or insurers. 

“[Be] transparent about supply chain challenges in getting rebuilding materials, or having less vendors available in a small town to provide services, or even [explain] why waiting to utilize an approved vendor, even if it makes the rebuilding process longer, is the only option to prevent further claims.” 

A fire truck travels past a devastated residential block in Jasper, Alta., on Friday July 26, 2024. Jasper residents who lost their homes in last month’s wildfires face unique rebuilding challenges tied to leasing provisions nearly as old as Canada is, followed by two sets of modern rules dictating what they can and can’t construct. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken