$439 million saved by the home insurance industry in Ontario over 2020
$ 439,117,920
...is the estimated amount that is to be saved by the home insurance industry over 2020 in Ontario, because of the Covid-related restrictions taken across Canada almost all year long.
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An overall decrease of 10.67 % in home insurance claims over Ontario
As the threat of a second epidemic wave materializes across Canada, 2020 already is a year marked by major changes in the domestic habits of Ontarians. In fact, due to Covid-19, a large number of households have had to spend a lot of time at home, either being on telework, temporarily laid off, or quite simply because of the restrictive measures taken by the authorities - especially in the spring and now again in November in Greater Toronto.
Thus, as the figures show, this context has greatly affected the number of home insurance claims made by the people:
Water, fire and theft damages decreasing, domestic accidents increasing
With many Ontario citizens forced to stay home during long months, domestic incidents decreased in a significant proportion since the beginning of 2020. Indeed, whilst being at home - working, on furlough or looking after kids unable to go to school - people avoided much home damages to happen - whether being theft, fire or water damage and other classic domestic damage that often usually occur when the house is empty. This is what say the numbers:
- Theft and burglaries are expected to decrease by 14.24% over year 2020 in Ontario, meaning a $50,7 million discount for home insurance providers in payouts
- While being home, people can avoid natural causes to make damage into their homes. Indeed, fire (-12.54%), weather (-11.95%) and water (-13.31%) damages are expected to go down in 2020 across Ontario
- On the contrary, we could estimate a 12.41% increase in accidental damages in the province, because of people being more at home.
The below graph shows on which extent home insurance claims have dropped:
The savings made by the home insurance industry per city
With regard to the distribution of savings made by home insurers in Ontario, it is not surprising to see that the most populous agglomerations are also those where the amount of the savings made over personal goods and civil liability claims is the highest:
- The Greater Toronto area accounts alone for around $200 million of the savings in payouts made over Ontario in 2020 by the home insurance industry
- Then, the cities of Ottawa ($32.1 million saved) and Hamilton ($17.7 million) rank second and third in the ranking of cities in Ontario where home insurance savings have been the highest.
| Cities | Decrease in home insurance claims between 2019 and 2020 | Total amount saved in payouts by the home insurance industry |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 11.35% | $94,859,718 |
| Ottawa | 11.22% | $32,072,010 |
| Mississauga | 11.03% | $24,352,576 |
| Brampton | 11.10% | $20,161,282 |
| Hamilton | 10.80% | $17,742,074 |
| London | 10.95% | $12,859,304 |
| Markham | 10.68% | $10,749,685 |
| Vaughan | 10.83% | $10,147,380 |
| Kitchener | 11.00% | $7,849,386 |
| Windsor | 10.77% | $7,156,901 |
| Richmond Hill | 10.86% | $6,480,178 |
| Burlington | 10.54% | $5,911,664 |
| Greater Sudbury | 11.01% | $5,441,475 |
| Oshawa | 9.98% | $4,869,118 |
| St. Catharines | 10.97% | $4,467,870 |
| Barrie | 10.23% | $4,426,933 |
| Guelph | 10.64% | $4,290,528 |
| Cambridge | 10.44% | $4,150,018 |
| Kingston | 10.84% | $4,105,976 |
| Thunder Bay | 11.02% | $3,638,419 |
| Waterloo | 9.86% | $3,167,246 |
| Pickering | 10.39% | $2,917,390 |
| Brantford | 9.71% | $2,896,540 |
| Niagara Falls | 10.57% | $2,848,272 |
| Peterborough | 10.40% | $2,578,478 |
| Sault Ste. Marie | 10.61% | $2,381,747 |
| Kawartha Lakes | 9.98% | $2,303,074 |
A national perspective : $1.1 billion savings in home insurance payouts over Canada in 2020
Across Canada, the total savings on home insurance payouts for 2020 could amount to more than $ 1.1 billion. As shown in the graph below, which groups together the 4 most populous provinces in Canada:
- Ontario is the Canadian province with the greatest home insurance savings in 2020: $ 439 million, for an overall claims decrease of 10.67%
- With just under $ 263 million in savings, Quebec ranks second among the Canadian provinces with the strongest savings, ahead of British Columbia (146.7 million) and Alberta (130.4 million).
Good to know
Note that you can also access :
- A version of this study focused on Canada, click here.
- A version of this study focused on Quebec, click here (in French)
- To access the HelloSafe media room, click here.
Antoine Fruchard, CEO & expert at Hellosafe.ca
« While many Ontarians found themselves spending the majority of their time at home in 2020, domestic claims have significantly decreased. However, Ontario home insurers have not yet initiated a response to this situation, which also exists for auto and health insurance products. However, it seems to me that the policyholders could be entitled to expect a reduction on their premiums, if only in the face of the economic difficulties which await Ontario in the months to come. In addition, the changes induced by Covid-19 have brought major trends - such as teleworking for example, which risk lastingly transforming the relationship of people to their housing. Here too, insurance companies are expected to change and adapt their policies, in a fast-changing world.»
Our methodology
This study was built upon public (in particular from the IBC) and private sources. In addition, several of our insurance partners were able to provide us with anonymous statistics over the period studied. Under the term 'home insurance', we analyze here the ongoing trends in personal property and civil liability insurance. At this stage, these figures are still estimates, pending final results after the end of 2020. For more information on our editorial line, please click here.
About Hellosafe.ca
Hellosafe.ca is a comparison platform which is shaking up the insurance market – giving you access to the best Canada insurance deals in less than 30 seconds. Hellosafe.ca is supported and financed by Blue, an Insurtech Venture Capital firm. Blue already owns two leaders in the French insurance comparison market. These platforms help more than 10 million people with their insurance every year. We have developed a unique comparison technology that gives access to cover details and quotes without customers having to give their phone number or email address. This engine is the result of four years of hard work.
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