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Climate change boosting claims: insurers

MONTREAL — Insurance experts say climate change is resulting in skyrocketing claims because of severe weather.

MONTREAL — Insurance experts say climate change is resulting in skyrocketing claims because of severe weather.

A Montreal conference has been told that harsh weather, including flash floods and hail storms, are battering more Canadian homes.

Insurance-industry employees and one analyst say there’s more to come with the warming weather.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says severe weather claims, even when adjusted for inflation, have doubled every five to 10 years since the 1950s.

Martin-Eric Tremblay of the Co-operators Group suggests insurance companies expect to pay out claims on catastrophic events four times more often than they did in the 1980s. Weighing the risks of disasters is a daily job for insurance firms, he says.

Paul Kovacs of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction says governments can protect the public by adjusting building codes.