$147 million saved by the home insurance industry in British Columbia over 2020
$ 146,744,538
...is the estimated amount that is to be saved by the home insurance industry over 2020 in British Columbia, because of the Covid-related restrictions taken across the province almost all year long.
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An overall decrease of 10.32 % in home insurance claims over BC
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 British Columbians. 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 some areas.
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 BC 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 10.45% over year 2020 in BC, meaning a $12,9 million discount for home insurance providers in payouts
- While being home, people can avoid natural causes to make damage into their homes. Indeed, fire (-10.17%), weather (-10.6%) and water (-10.15%) damages are expected to go down in 2020 across BC
- On the contrary, we could estimate a 11.5% 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 in BC per city
With regard to the distribution of savings made by home insurers in British Columbia, 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 Metro Vancouver area - which concentrates 53% of the BC inhabitants - accounts alone for around $85.2 million of the savings in payouts made over BC in 2020 by the home insurance industry - with a 11,3% decrease in home insurance claims in comparison with 2019
- Then, the cities of Abbotsford ($4.5 million saved) and Kelowna ($3.4 million) rank second and third in the BC cities where home insurance savings have been the highest.
| Cities | Decrease rate in home insurance claims (2019-2020) | Home insurance savings in 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Metro | 11.30% | $85 158 859 |
| Surrey* | 11.15% | $17 665 294 |
| Burnaby* | 11.21% | $7 982 072 |
| Richmond* | 11.20% | $6 794 718 |
| Abbotsford | 10.35% | $4 477 046 |
| Coquitlam* | 10.50% | $4 474 057 |
| Kelowna | 10.22% | $3 982 567 |
| Delta* | 10.30% | $3 221 518 |
| Nanaimo | 10.07% | $2 788 099 |
| Victoria | 10.03% | $2 632 441 |
| Maple Ridge* | 10.30% | $2 591 885 |
| Chilliwack | 9.50% | $2 435 098 |
| New Westminster* | 9.50% | $2 063 329 |
| Port Coquitlam* | 10.00% | $1 793 071 |
| Prince George | 7.75% | $1 754 535 |
| Vernon | 8.54% | $1 048 061 |
| Campbell River | 8.85% | $882 291 |
| Penticton | 7.62% | $787 012 |
| Kamloops | 9.88% | $272 872 |
| Williams Lake | 5.43% | $178 624 |
*Cities located within the Metro Vancouver area
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.
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Antoine Fruchard, CEO & expert at Hellosafe.ca
« While many British Columbians found themselves spending the majority of their time at home in 2020, domestic claims have significantly decreased. However, BC 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 British Columbia 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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