Insured damages from summer storms in Alberta top $300M, estimate shows

Severe storms in Alberta and the Prairies this summer resulted in more than $300 million in insured losses, according to initial estimates from the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

The estimate doesn’t include insured damages from the ongoing wildfires.

The bureau says about 30 per cent of the insured losses, or more than $90 million, went toward repairing or replacing storm-hit vehicles in Alberta, particularly straining the auto insurance market amid the provincial rate pause.

Aaron Sutherland, vice-president for Pacific and Western at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, says this was the third straight summer in which Alberta saw significant insured damage from hail, wind and rain.

He says it is important that consumers work with their insurance brokers to ensure they have the right coverage to protect their property or business from the impacts of such storms.

The report shows that the Prairies experienced at least four major storms this summer, including Central Alberta flooding, a Calgary hailstorm and the Canada Day storms.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2023.