B.C. floods affect new homeowners insurance

VANCOUVER -

The B.C. floods are spilling over and affecting homeowners who are not in the flooded areas.

Coquitlam resident Jorge Alvarez was shocked when TD Insurance yanked his quote for homeowners insurance at the last minute, nearly scuttling his ability to close on the purchase of a new home in Coquitlam.

"They let me know that they couldn't sell me the insurance because of the flooding that was going on in B.C.," Alvarez said.

CTV News confirmed with the City of Coquitlam that his home wasn't even in a flood plain.

Lenders require homeowners to get insurance in order to secure a mortgage. On Sept. 23, Alvarez received the TD Insurance quote for the new home. It stated the quote was good until Dec. 22, but just days before his Dec. 7 closing, TD Insurance informed him it wouldn't honour it, leaving him less than three business days to find a new insurer.

"It's already a stressful process," Alvarez said, referring to home-buying. "Don't think just because you have a quote in writing from your provider, don't think it's all said and done."

Ironically, TD was also providing the mortgage for the new home. CTV News reached out to TD and received an email response.

"During unusually severe and catastrophic events including extreme weather like what many British Columbians have recently experienced, it is our normal practice to briefly pause some new client activities, including binding home insurance quotes, while we fully evaluate how extensive the impact is to surrounding regions and communities and continue to focus on supporting our impacted customers," stated Paolo Pasquini, corporate and public affairs for TD.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada told CTV News it hadn't heard of any companies not honouring quotes for new insurance because of the floods. However, IBC media relations manger Vanessa Barrasa stated, "Each insurance company operates independently and makes individual business decisions on risk appetite. The changing climate and increase of severe weather events are changing the risk profile of certain homeowners and could influence the insurability with certain particular insurance providers."

If you need new insurance or a renewal, don't leave it to chance. Alvarez has some valuable advice.

"If I had to do it all over again, I think I probably would have gotten a couple more quotes," he said.

You can also lean on insurance brokers to help navigate the marketplace to help you find an insurance company to satisfy your needs.