The Insurance Bureau of Canada is disagreeing with a comment made in Windsor by the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
While touring a flood impacted neighborhood Tuesday, Bill Mauro said flood insurance is "widely available in Ontario" a comment he repeated at Queens Park under questioning by Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield.
IBC Director of Consumer and Industry Relations - Pete Karageorgeos - says there are situations where homeowners are not eligible for flood insurance.
He went on to point out the Windsor Essex area is one region where it is challenging to purchase coverage because of repeated flooding.
Map showing where the worst flooding happened Wednesday afternoon (by AM800's Peter Langille)
Karageorgeos says to obtain insurance, a home will be checked to see if proper protection from flooding exists with items like backwater valves and sump pumps.
"no longer is an insurance policy just insurance for those if something happens, because these are cases now where we're seeing things occur on a regular basis" explains Karageorgeos "it's when something is going to happen and so we know we've seen it in the past and we'll see it in the future it becomes a maintenance issue rather than an insurance issue"
Karageorgeos says a variety of conditions can prevent a homeowner from getting flood insurance such as being close to a lake or stream.
He likens it to a repeat drunk driver, who is such a high risk that even if insurance is offered, it would be prohibitively expensive.