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Protection For When The Water Comes

By February 27, 2018April 4th, 2019No Comments

Overland Water Endorsement

Extreme weather has been a big issue all around the world. It seems that there is always something regarding the weather hitting the news headlines each week. There are tornados, tsunamis, earthquakes, droughts, landslides and flooding. The incidents are more frequent and are happening in areas not affected before. These severe incidents cause many deaths and billions of dollars in property damages.

Recently in Canada, we have had many incidents of extreme weather resulting in millions of dollars of damages. Some damages are covered, others are not. In prior years, fairly accurate predictions could be made to know where the potential dangers were for localized flooding. Today those predictions have proven to be extremely difficult and represents great challenges for individual property owners, governments and insurance companies.

With the record amounts of rainfall that have been falling, the storm drains, sewers systems, septic systems, and our rivers, lakes and streams are not able to keep up with the great volumes of water. This is causing more frequent, and severe backups, resulting in flooding of homes and businesses. We are talking about areas in the past that were not subject flooding. That is in addition to those that are known to flood. The prediction is that as climate change continues, the events will be more often and damage more severe. So the property damages caused by heavy rains, spring runoff and overflowing of rivers and lakes will continue.

Property damage occurring from overland water is affecting thousands of property owners across the country. The damages caused are extremely expensive to repair, have not been covered by insurance, and leave the owner (s) under a lot of emotional and financial stress.

Many Insurance Companies have introduced coverage that can provide protection for most homeowners, tenant, and condominium policies against heavy rain, spring runoff and overflowing of rivers and streams.

The coverage is being referred to as the Overland Water Endorsement. This would be an attachment that would form part of your property policy. Insurance companies do require that sewer backup is purchased in order to qualify for this new coverage. You will need to contact your insurance provider to discuss if the coverage is available, what the requirements are, and what the cost would be to your own policy. The requirements and cost of the coverage can vary from one insurance company to another. It is very important for you to have the discussion with your insurance broker to learn about the details that apply to your property, your policy and coverage.

Here are a few examples of situations, the Overland Water Coverage would / could respond to:

  1. Unusual or rapid accumulation of ground water that enters your home through basement windows, doors or garage doors.
  2. Unusual and rapid accumulation or run off of surface waters from any source, including torrential rainfall.
  3. The rising or, breaking out or the overflow of the body of fresh water. Flood from fresh water body, such as a river, stream, or lake.

As mentioned earlier, many companies now offer it, and there are several insurers that are working out the details of what they will be offering and at what cost.

There are many companies and organizations diligently working to educate property owners. They are trying to reach out to the property owners with methods on how help prevent or how to help lessen the damages that can be caused by water.

If you have any other questions, or would like a policy assessment and a no obligation quote, please contact any of our brokers at Pearson Insurance, (506) 432-1550.