Volunteer fire service means higher insurance rates for Desert Blume, Dunmore
By Mo Cranker on April 21, 2017.
When the county switches over to covering Desert Blume and Dunmore with a volunteer force once its current fire services agreement with the city lapses in December, insurance rates in those communities will go up, says Canadian accredited insurance broker Gord Cowan of Cowan Agencies Ltd. -- NEWS FILE PHOTOTwitter: MHNTimKal When the county switches over to covering Desert Blume and Dunmore with a volunteer force once its current fire services agreement with the city lapses in December, insurance rates in those communities will go up, says Canadian accredited insurance broker Gord Cowan of Cowan Agencies Ltd. “In Desert Blume, that’s going to change it quite significantly when the county moves to a volunteer service there,” said Cowan. “If they exceed the requirement for a protected one, and go to semi-protected, they are going to see significant increases to their property insurance. Depending on the insurance company, I would expect 15-30 per cent would be my estimate.” Cowan says it is difficult to estimate how much Dunmore homeowners’ rates may go up, but it is a near certainty they will. “What will happen is the industry will look at it and get a bunch of data collected, and they will be able to determine the amount of increase risk of changing from a full-time, responding fire hall from Medicine Hat to a volunteer firefighting-system. It’s hard to put a number on it, but it’s safe to say if there is increased risk there will be increased premiums.” See the full story in Saturday’s News 7
-6
