Does Commercial Property Insurance Include Protection for Overland Floods?

Spring is always welcome following the cold Canadian winter, but the risk of flooding from snowmelt and heavy rainfall increases as the temperature rises.  

Spring officially arrives on March 20th this year. While snow may still cover many Canadian communities into April, we can look forward to sunshine, warmer temperatures, and the melting of snow and ice.

Canada’s most common natural hazard throughout the year is floods, which pose a risk to business property owners everywhere. The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) ranks the summer of 2024 as the most destructive season in Canadian history for insured losses due to severe weather, causing a total of over $7 billion in insured losses.

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Last year also proved to be a record-breaking year for property losses caused by severe weather and natural disasters to the tune of $8.5 billion, according to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.

It’s a sobering fact that floods, with their potential to cause around $2.78 billion in structural damages to residential properties in an average year, are the most common and costly natural hazard in Canada, according to the Bank of Canada. But floods don’t discriminate, meaning they also affect business owners and their commercial properties and profitability.

There are different types of floods that can impact business properties, but pluvial or overland flooding – surface water flooding often caused by heavy, continuous rainfall or snowmelt that does not absorb into the ground – is what we commonly see in spring and summer.

How Can Business Owners Protect Their Properties From Floods?

Business owners can take flood prevention and management steps to try to minimize flood damage to their properties, but these measures alone are not enough. Our free, downloadable insurance guide, “How to Protect Your Business Property in the Era of Climate Change”, offers guidance on how to safeguard your business from severe weather and natural disasters.

Commercial property insurance is vital coverage for any business property owner. It covers a wide range of damages and losses outside a business owner’s control, including internal water damage and overland floods. An overland flood is any type of flooding from natural water as opposed to internal water damage caused by a burst pipe inside a building. However, not all standard commercial property policies may include coverage for overland floods – highlighting the necessity of ensuring your property coverage features all-risk or all-perils coverage.

An all-risk perils commercial property insurance policy that includes flood insurance is designed to protect a wide range of business assets, including:

• Commercial buildings and attached structures
• Furniture, fixtures, and fittings
• Office equipment and electronics
• Inventory and merchandise
• Storefront signage and fencing
• Equipment, including boilers, furnaces, and business contents
• Improvements made to a leased commercial property, such as carpeting, lighting, and paint

In general, an all-risk perils commercial property insurance policy can help protect business owners from losses related to water damage, including:

• Overland floods caused by extreme weather
• Rapid accumulation of runoff surface water
• Municipal sewer backups that flood the interior of a property
• Internal burst water pipes that inflict water damage
• Leaking appliances that damage property

Acquiring Commercial Property Insurance with Flood Coverage

Zensurance is Canada’s leading small business insurance provider, trusted by more than 350,000 small business owners, entrepreneurs, and independent professionals across hundreds of industries.

Our customized commercial property insurance policies help strengthen your business’s resilience and protect your finances from losses caused by extreme weather and natural disasters.

Fill out our online application for a free quote.

Our team of knowledgeable brokers will shop our partner network of over 50 insurers to get the comprehensive coverage your small business needs at an affordable price and tailor it to suit your requirements.