What to know when filing an insurance claim, from spoiled food to fallen trees

Residents assessing damage from post-tropical storm Fiona are being encouraged to contact their insurer right away and do what they can to document the destruction. 

The powerful storm brought intense winds and storm surges that felled trees and power lines and flooded some homes. Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are still without power. 

Earlier this week, the province announced emergency financial aid for people affected by the storm.

Jennifer MacLeod, vice-president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Nova Scotia, spoke with CBC Radio's Information Morning on Wednesday about what's typically covered by people's insurance and how they can begin the process of filing a claim. 

MacLeod's conversation with host Portia Clark has been edited for clarity and length. 

Listen to the full interview here:

What are some of the most common things that people are calling about?

I did take a look at our 300-plus calls, emails and so forth that we had [Sept. 26] and we're seeing a lot of roofs being blown off, structure collapse. There's been a lot of damage from fallen trees. Loss of food in refrigerators and freezers. We're seeing some water damage to structures along the shoreline, and we're hearing a lot about fences and decks being damaged or even blown off.

Of all of those problems, what's generally covered by insurance and what isn't after a hurricane?

That's actually a harder one to answer because coverage is really unique to each individual policy, and no two companies have exact same wordings. But one of the things that might surprise you is trees and shrubs, for instance, they're not covered for wind damage. They're covered for other damage, but not for wind, so we were very relieved to hear that the provincial government through the disaster assistance program is offering coverage for uninsurable losses, including trees. 

OK, so if a contractor hits your tree by accident, doing some work on the house, that might be covered in some way?

That may be covered, but not if it's brought down by wind. 

It's complicated. 

It is. It really is, and that's why on behalf of the brokers association, I really advocate that consumers talk with a knowledgeable, educated broker because they will make sure they explain these things to you. They'll also help you figure out which one is important for you so that when the worst happens, when that day comes that you need to call on it, you have the right coverage in place ... It's something we experience every day, people that don't understand the implications of their policy and what the wordings cover.

Trees and shrubs, for instance, they're not covered for wind damage. They're covered for other damage, but not for wind.- Jennifer MacLeod, Insurance Brokers Association of Nova Scotia

Going back to trees. You're not covered for wind damage to the tree, but if the tree falls on your house or your vehicle, then is that covered usually by most people's policies?

Typically yes, structure collapse as a result [of something else]. Insurance is kind of odd that way as well. There's a term called "resultant damage," so that captures things that happen as a result of something else. The original thing may not be covered, but the resulting damage could be. 

Let's go inside the fridge. You mentioned that food spoilage would be covered, but are there any strings attached to that one?

There can be. Typically with food spoilage, it would fall under your homeowner's policy so depending on how you have your policy set up, your deductible could be quite high. So if you aren't experiencing any other loss to the property, putting in a claim for food spoilage may not make sense. You know, if you have $1,000 deductible and you just need to replace your perishables in your fridge, it may not make sense to put that through as a claim. 

Are there steps that people should take as they're assessing the damage right now?

When something like this happens, we encourage everyone to do whatever they can immediately to safely protect the home or the auto from further damage. If there's live wires, if there's anything like that, please just step away. 

But if you can get your electrical and gas supplies turned off and take remediation steps until the contractors can get there, that will really help. Especially if you have water present, you really don't want to risk getting mould and getting further damage from the water, so if there's a way to drain it safely, that's always encouraged. We do recommend that you reach out and call your broker or insurance company directly as soon as something like this happens so that they can initiate the process. 

If you don't have the documents to file a claim, like you've had to leave your home quickly and you can't get inside. What do you do? 

Again, you can reach out to your broker. We can take steps to make sure that we're speaking with our insured and we can provide them with copies of their insurance policies, their policy numbers, we can transfer them off to the insurance company. We'll do everything that we can to help our insured in that moment.