Homeowners left with severe damage from last week's floods are hoping the province can help cover the costs of repairs as virtually everyone will see their private insurance claims rejected.
Roughly 40 homeowners, renters and businesses are now eligible to apply for disaster financial assistance from Emergency Management B.C. Most people don't know they're not covered by their flood insurance until after the damage is done, said Bob Stewart, owner of Irwin and Billings Insurance in North Vancouver.
"It's surprising that it's not well known," he said. "It is a standard exclusion on virtually all standard personal insurance policies, not only in B.C. but in Canada in general."
Broken water pipes or sewer system back-ups typically are covered if the owner has purchased a policy that covers floods. Insurance companies, however, don't sell policies that cover rising rivers because they aren't viable for insurers, Stewart said.
"It all depends on where the water comes from and how it gets in the house," he said.
The District of North Vancouver hosted a meeting for flooded-out residents to get connected with staff from B.C. Housing, the North Shore Emergency Management Office, the Red Cross and Emergency
Management B.C. on the weekend, which went a long way to assuage the fears of residents, said Chris Klar, whose home on Fromme Road was one of the worst hit.
"They were very reassuring. They said, 'We're not looking for ways to say no. We want to help you,'" she said.
Klar recalled the night the floods hit last week. "It was incredible, the force. It wasn't just water. It was debris and mud and everything else. When I opened my door, it was three or four feet high and it just came in," she said.
Klar said she expects damage estimates for her home will reach $100,000 just for a "barebones" repairing of the floors and walls and fixtures.
Klar said she'd like to see the District of North Vancouver step up and offer some supplemental support as provincial relief funds only cover "the essentials."
"Surely there's support that the district can kick in more than the provincial money," she said. "There's going to be a handful of us that have thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars still to pay."
Klar said she owes huge thanks to neighbourhood volunteers who showed up to help her family move mountains of mud out of their home.
"Right from the getgo, neighbours were there digging, wiping, trying to rescue things. We had probably 30 to 40 people on the first day without having to make any calls or anything," she said. "This just feels so good. What an amazing community.
Someone said, 'Maybe you should just give up your house.' We're never leaving. This is a great place."
As of Monday, about 20 residents had applied for provincial disaster funding, said Johanna Morrow, manager of recovery and funding for Emergency Management B.C. "After the first $1,000, we'll compensate at 80 per cent to a maximum claim of $300,000," she said. "This is not an insurance program. It's not going to cover all your losses but it helps restore the essentials." The deadline for applications from this flood is Feb. 3, 2015.
The district, meanwhile, is still in clean-up mode. Crews are still assessing the damage to municipal infrastructure and won't know the full extent for a few weeks, said Jeanine Bratina, district spokeswoman.
