TORONTO, Oct. 2 2009 – Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC) has assisted almost nine thousand of its customers in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia in getting their lives back to normal after a summer of major storms and wildfires. The severe weather events included large hail storms in Alberta, heavy rain and wind storms in a number of regions, tornados in the Greater Toronto Area and the Laurentian region of Quebec, and flooding in Hamilton and Ottawa.
“There have been a highly unusual number of severe storms throughout this quarter. With the dedicated efforts of emergency response teams, brokers, and our nationwide network of suppliers, we were able to help customers to get back to normal as quickly as possible,” said Charles Brindamour, President & CEO, Intact Financial Corporation. “Events such as these are something we as an organization are well prepared for, allowing us to keep our promise of being there when our customers need us most.”
Intact has a national coordinated storm management system that further enhances its abilities to assist customers on the scene. Intact’s 24/7 call centres were put on alert and emergency responders were able to quickly get to all of the affected regions, deploying teams of claims adjusters and repair crews from its network of contractors to where they were most urgently needed
Intact estimates the severe weather events caused approximately $140 million in insured damages to its customers. Intact estimates a pre-tax impact on its third quarter results of approximately $115 million.
The summer storms reinforce Intact’s outlook on personal property insurance and the continued upward pressure on premiums in the following months. The number of weather related insurance claims in Canada has been steadily increasing over the past five years, with heavier precipitation, wind storms of increased intensity, and less predictable weather patterns.
About Intact Financial Corporation
Intact Financial Corporation (www.intactfc.com) is the largest provider of property and casualty insurance in the country with over $4 billion in premiums. Its 7,000 employees offer home, auto and business insurance under the Intact Insurance, Novex Group Insurance, belairdirect and Grey Power brands.
