At Staebler Insurance we are celebrating our 140th anniversary this year and we are continuing our commitment to the community by joining with THEMUSEUM in celebration of their 10th anniversary and the launch of their fall exhibition, Surface Tension | The Future of Water.  THEMUSEUM are helping us get to 1000 likes on our Facebook page & will make $1,000 donation to THEMUSEUM.

The exhibition is looking at the role of water in our life, politics and economics.  It is sure to be fascinating, and never more so for those of us in the insurance industry.  Water is causing a lot of damage and costing the insurance industry, and ultimately the premium paying policy holders, a whole lot of money.  And it’s only getting worse.

We are certainly seeing drought and deluge weather patterns which are overwhelming our current infrastructure, flooding our homes and businesses, causing stress, mess, and a whole lot of damage.

The costs and frequency of these events are escalating drastically through a variety of causes:

• Many communities now have aging infrastructure that is decaying and they are having a hard time working out where to find the funds for the overhaul that is desperately needed.
• We have very nice basements these days!  Gone are the days of indoor-outdoor rug and panelling.  Many homes have wonderful entertainment areas with expensive furniture, electronics and decorations.
• As the boundaries of municipalities are filling up with new home construction there is more and more building in areas that are subject to flooding.   Think about it:  High River was named for a reason!
  Insurance can help:  your home insurance policy will usually cover sewer back-up losses which are defined as a back-up of sewers, pipes, drains, etc.  but will exclude flood (surface water coming in).   If your sewer back-up coverage is subject to a specific limit make sure it is sufficient for your subterranean pleasure palace.   Flood coverage is available for your business from most insurance companies but comes as at a cost.   Talk to your broker.

It seems clear for the future we need a better plan to help protect our property and livelihood against the rising waters.  The costs cannot be covered by your policy premium alone.  Canadians are an innovative creative people and we will combine our efforts with our municipalities, insurers, and contractors to come up with solutions.

Please be sure to ‘Like’ the Staebler Insurance page on Facebook.