By Kaitlyn MacNeill
After the Hammons Plains and Upper Tantallon wildfires in 2023, as well as the more recent wildfires in California this past spring, the effects of climate change have become clearer than ever before, raising questions about fire insurance.
According to Natural Resources Canada, our wildfire seasons have become two times more intensive than our pre-industrial climate. Wildfire-prone weather conditions in Quebec have increased in intensity by 50 per cent.
With intense wildfires comes an increased concern for property damage. If property insurance is based on statistics, and those statistics are shifting rapidly, how does this affect the insurance landscape? How much coverage can one receive after a wildfire if those fires are becoming more and more common?
Stephen Hiscock is the manager of government and stakeholder relations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada. He confirmed that no matter the case, damage from an unintentional fire is always covered by insurance in Nova Scotia.
“Natural disaster, arson from an outside party, accidental, it’s all the same if the damage is caused by fire,” said Hiscock. “If you have house insurance, fire is your base coverage.”
While this is the case in Nova Scotia now, Hiscock said climate change is and could continue to have effects on insurance in other parts of the world. While it hasn’t occurred in Canada yet, U.S. states like Florida and California are seeing companies pull out of insuring people in their state.
“Insurance is basically a risk pool that everybody’s paying into, and all claims are sort of paid out of that pool,” said Hiscock. “As risk and claims costs increase, that generally either puts pressure on premium costs or on a reduction in coverages. In the states, we’re seeing insurers say, ‘We’re not going to insure anybody in the state anymore because the risk is too high.”
Insurance companies protect themselves against major losses through re-insurance companies, but even this back-up can have limits.
“It’s essentially insurance for insurers,” said Hiscock. “The nine billion dollars in natural disaster claims we had in 2024 were spread out quite well. Even so, the reinsurer isn’t going to keep taking those kinds of losses. So, over time, that causes them to raise the insurance rates of their company, which has a trickle-down effect.”
In the case of the 2023 Tantallon wildfires, Hiscock says not everyone may have gotten the coverage they needed.
“There’s probably a few individual cases that are still in the hopper, so to speak,” said Hiscock. “With a widespread disaster like that, not every claim settles. For example, a dispute about the replacement value of a home might still be working its way through the court system.”
Advice from a Wildfire Prevention Officer
Kara McCurdy is a wildfire prevention officer for the province of Nova Scotia. According to McCurdy, wildfires in Nova Scotia are “98 to 99 per cent human-caused.” The biggest factor contributing to these fires is residential burning, whether it’s brush burning, campfire use, or burning trash.
“You know when you’re out in your yard, you’re lighting a fire, sometimes they’re not supervised,” said McCurdy. “You kind of do other things when you’re burning. Oftentimes, they’re not put in proper locations. They’re too close to the woods, or dry vegetation.”
McCurdy advises Nova Scotia residents to follow the daily burn restrictions posted by the province. “They’re set with public safety in mind,” said McCurdy. “When in doubt, if you go outside and it’s windy… don’t do it.”
Nonetheless, even if a wildfire is human-caused, Hiscock said the homeowner will be covered.
“A fire shouldn’t affect your insurance coverage unless it’s an intentional sort of act that was meant to burn down your house,” said Hiscock. “For example, if you’re on your phone while driving and you crash, you’ll still get your coverage. You just won’t get your deductible.”
However, Hiscock does advise homeowners to review their insurance coverage and know how much they’ll get, especially if the home is over 10 years old. This is because of the uncertainty of a home’s replacement value.
“Sometimes a house will be insured up to some maximum,” said Hiscock. “But, as you know, home prices have gone crazy in the last 10 years. So, that maximum might not be sufficient.”
Additionally, McCurdy advises homeowners to carefully document the insides of their homes in preparation for property damage. McCurdy said to photograph and write down the contents of your house and keep it on a memory stick, one that is kept close to an exit in case of a fire.
“I know so many folks who lost their homes in fires and had not documented everything properly,” said McCurdy. “This way, if something happens to your home, your insurance company will know everything you had there.”
In the case of a wildfire, flood, or any other natural disaster in Nova Scotia, dial 911. The nearest fire department will be able to assist you.
