The Insurance Bureau of Canada says all standard homeowner and tenant insurance policies cover damage caused by fires, and also provide coverage to help with the cost of mass evacuations. A hot spot from the Lower East Adams Lake wildfire burns in Scotch Creek, B.C., on Sunday, August 20, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The Insurance Bureau of Canada says all standard homeowner and tenant insurance policies cover damage caused by fires, and also provide coverage to help with the cost of mass evacuations.
In a news release, the organization advises anyone forced to flee due to wildfires in the Northwest Territories and British Columbia to make a list of damaged or destroyed items and keep receipts for expenses they incurred.
Devastating wildfires have forced thousands from their homes in the Northwest Territories and the B.C. Interior over the past week.
A provincial state of emergency was enacted in B.C., with around 30,000 people under evacuation order as of Sunday.
IBC says it’s too early to provide estimates of insured damages from the fires as they are still ongoing.
Before these fires started their rampages, it was already a year of record-setting wildfires. More than one in four Canadians told a polling firm in June that they had been affected by fires during the spring.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2023.
