John Connors’s collectible sneakers outlet in Halifax sustained damages following an extreme-weather flood this summer. He is waiting to find out its impact on his insurance premiums.Nova Scotia continues to count the costs after torrential rains and flash floods inundated the province on July 22, claiming three lives and inflicting what officials called “unimaginable” damage to homes and infrastructure.
Mr. Connors says his insurer has offered little in the way of communication as it conducts an analysis to gauge the value of damage to the structure and its contents, as well as of the forgone sales that would come on top of what he paid out of pocket during the store cleanup. Insurance has become one of the major cost constraints for small business, with the level of concern way above the historical average.
Concerns about the rising costs for commercial insurance typically required for a small business and the increasing difficulty of obtaining sufficient coverage are mounting among Canadian Federation of Independent Business members, thanks to market forces including extreme weather, says Simon Gaudreault, CFIB’s vice-president of research and chief economist.