As insurance costs surge, northeast Calgary residents question their futures in 'hail alley'

Balraj Nijjar has lived in the far northeast community of Skyview Ranch for over a decade and, for the first time, he's considering leaving.

Not for a change of scenery — but to escape the destructive hailstorms that have hiked his home insurance premiums from $75 to $300 a month.

"In this kind of inflation and in this time of a slowdown of the economy, it's very hard for us to handle these kinds of expenses," said Nijjar, whose auto insurance has also increased after last year's hailstorm.

It was the costliest hailstorm in Canada's history, damaging nearly 60,000 homes and ringing in over $3 billion in insured damages, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Now, as Calgary approaches another hailstorm season, Nijjar said he's constantly worried about whether another storm will hit and what that would mean for his insurance, which is set to renew in December.

He isn't alone. Nijjar was one of about two dozen homeowners who gathered in Skyview Ranch on Friday to sound the alarm about skyrocketing insurance premiums. Some have been denied coverage altogether by multiple companies, leaving them questioning their futures in their long-time communities.

That was the case for Cornerstone resident Harlin Kaur.

When her home insurance wasn't renewed earlier this month due to the number of claims in the area over the past few years, she shopped around — only to be denied coverage by at least 10 other companies.

"If I don't have home insurance, I can't renew my mortgage. If I can't renew my mortgage, we basically end up homeless," said Kaur, who was quoted $21,000 for an annual premium by one company.

After more than a week of calling around, she secured coverage — at a much higher cost. Her family is now paying $580 a month, up from the $180 they used to pay, with a $10,000 deductible.

"What about next year? What if another disaster happens, then what? We might not be able to keep our homes and we might have to move out of the city or move into a different part of the city [when] I've spent and I've grown up here my entire life."

The homeowners are asking various levels of government to step up and help end what they call an "insurance crisis." They're also joining researchers' calls for the province to adjust building codes so all new homes in hail-prone areas like north Calgary must be built with more resilient sidings like Stucco.

'This is urgent'

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal said he's long been advocating for the province to change building codes, as it's out of the city's jurisdiction. The federal government creates building codes, but the province can adjust them.

"This is urgent and urgency cannot wait for someone to do something. We all have to come together to do something," said Dhaliwal.

He said he's also exploring other options city administration can take to protect residents in what many call "hail alley," like they did after the 2013 floods.

"We started looking at flooding-prone areas, flooding valleys in a different way — how we approved the new developments, what kinds of housing types we approved there. So I want to explore that opportunity here."

Dhaliwal said he was "very upset" when council voted to kill the resilient roofing rebate program in 2022, and he hopes the homeowners' advocacy will act as a catalyst to push more change along.

Shop around, ask about discounts

Meanwhile, the province said it's aware of residents' concerns and is working to find ways to address them — including continually exploring building codes.

This includes new province-wide building code requirements, introduced last year that strengthen construction standards that protect against environmental conditions such as weather.

"Homes in different areas of the province face various potential risks due to factors such as inclement weather, so we provide builders and homeowners with the flexibility to build or upgrade homes above the established code requirements to account for this," said Kevin Lee, press secretary for Alberta's Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada, which represents insurance companies across the country, is also aware about northeast Calgary residents' concerns, according to national director Rob de Pruis.

"We know that some parts of Canada are significantly higher risk than they were in years past. So as a result of that, some companies are making independent decisions, business decisions, on whether or not to continue providing coverage in that area," he said.

As many residents have done, de Pruis recommends shopping around, comparing prices and asking about potential discounts. Some companies offer deals when you bundle insurance or if you're with a professional association, he said.