Report: Flooding drives annual claims total to nearly $2.5 billion, has strong influence on rebuilding costs
Lehi, Utah, March 20, 2014 — Xactware’s annual property report for Canada reveals that the record-breaking flooding of 2013 had a significant impact on property claim trends and reconstruction costs. Xactware is a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) company that provides cloud-based claims solutions through mobile, online, and desktop platforms for the property insurance and restoration industries.
“The flooding in Alberta and Toronto had the greatest effect on the cost of building materials and labour of all the events that took place in Canada last year,” said Joel Dagenais, Xactware’s Canadian and international consultant and president of Logiciel AXP Software.
Xactware’s 2013 Property Report for Canada shows the flooding that struck Alberta and Toronto drove total monthly property claims to $336.3 million in July and then $390.4 million in August. The property report bases its findings on claims processed throughout 2013 by Xactware’s claims management and analytical network, XactAnalysis®, with a total value of nearly $2.5 billion.
The flooding also had an incredible effect on reconstruction costs in Canada. Xactware’s Reconstruction Index shows the national cost to rebuild grew 4.91 per cent, more than double the rate increase from 2012.
“Xactware’s research shows that, compared with the prior year, construction costs for common repairs increased 7.17 per cent in Alberta, while the national average only grew 4.15 per cent,” said Mike Fulton, Xactware’s vice president of Pricing Data Services.
Xactware’s annual property report provides a wealth of information about important trends in the Canadian property insurance industry. In addition to an in-depth overview on the value of property claims and reconstruction costs, Xactware’s 2013 Property Report for Canada includes findings on these key areas.
- the average value of claims by month and type of loss (such as water, hail, and wind)
- a comparison of home market value and reconstruction cost trends
- trends for commonly used building materials (such as lumber, drywall, and roof shingles)
About Xactware’s 2013 Property Report for Canada
Xactware’s in-house team of pricing experts researched, analyzed, and compiled the information contained in the 2013 property report. This team, with 560-plus years of combined construction and restoration experience, conducted more than 26,000 surveys with material and equipment suppliers and more than 9,000 surveys with repair contractors and service providers during 2013. Xactware also analyzed in excess of 4.9 million data points from repair and rebuild estimates to tabulate information in the property report.
Visit the Xactware Online Store to order a copy of the 2013 Property Report for Canada.
About Xactware
Xactware specializes in technologies for the property insurance, remodeling, restoration, and mortgage and lending industries. Xactware’s tools provide claims estimating, contents replacement, claims management, and property maintenance solutions for desktop, mobile, and online platforms. Xactware’s services include repair cost research and reports, aerial imagery, and real-time business intelligence. Xactware has been providing cloud services for customers since 1995. Xactware is a member of the Verisk Insurance Solutions group at Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK). For more information about Xactware’s solutions, contact Xactware at 1-800-424-9228 or Xactware.com.
Twitter: Xactware
Contact:
Jens Dana
801-932-8653
jadana@xactware.com