melloInsurance

Serving our clients, Serving our community

Saskatchewan

My truck just fell through the ice….now what!?


We live in Saskatchewan. Which means 3 things: you bleed green, you know what a combine is, and you know how to survive winter 11 months of the year. I might have exaggerated………just on the combine one, the point is, winter is here and it is here for a while. So we have to make the most of it. That means it is time to go out for a rip to the fishing shack!

If you live in this glorious province that has an unlimited bounty of frozen lakes and tundra, you may know, or in fact, BE, a die hard ice-fisher (New word of the day). Get the ice-auger and a few beverages and make your way across the frozen pond, where you can enjoy yourself trying to catch that elusive slippery fish.

Now this is all fine and dandy, but what happens in the event that the ice isn’t as thick as you thought and your trailer or truck ends up falling through the ice? We have all seen the instagram or snapchat photo showing some redneck digging a truck out of the ice-water with a backhoe. We don’t want that to be you! But if that redneck turns out to be you or a close relative, you may need to know if you’re actually covered on your insurance.

Truth is, SGI does not have a magic number of how thick the ice needs to be for you to be “approved” to drive onto the ice. We were able to find a guide to show an approximate thickness allowance for certain vehicles. This is shown below. Even though these guidelines are complete speculation, they give you an idea of what weight can be placed on certain thicknesses of ice.  

SGI states that if a claim were to occur from a vehicle falling through the ice: “As long as it was reasonable for the customer to believe that the ice would hold the weight of the vehicle, then you should be covered for any loss or damage to your vehicles. If the customer saw large patches of open water or he tried to hydroplane his snowmobile or anything risky; those would be scenarios where a claim could be denied.”

Try to break up the winter with some quality ice fishing time, and just know that, as long as you believe the ice is thick enough for your vehicles, then you’ll be covered. It is better to be safe than sorry, so it wouldn’t hurt to check out the depth of the ice prior to driving your new Super Duty onto it. Cheers!

Saskatchewan Summer Storms

In the Province of Saskatchewan, wind is a part of everyday life. However, the frequency of the recent storms we’ve been having, are not. These storms have brought tornado warnings, plow winds, hailstorms and torrential downpours. With these severe risks, we need to make sure we are properly covered so that if one of these events hits us close to home or by the lake, we are properly covered.

Most basic insurance home policies include the wind and hail perils automatically, but there are some coverages that may be available to top up your policy. An insurance company  is responsible to repair or replace the damage to your house. If hail and wind damage one side of your dwelling, they will fix that side. However as siding and shingles age over time, the new material may not match the remaining three sides that were left undamaged. SGI Canada has a Prestige policy which removes this “obsolescence clause” to help cover those remaining 3 sides to make sure your house goes back to the way it was designed to be. This is normally not covered under most home policies. There are some requirements to qualify for Prestige coverage, so please contact our office if this would interest you.
With these thunderstorms, there may be a lot of water that comes with it. MMFI, SGI Canada and Wawanesa have created Flood/Water Protection coverages to help protect you from a flooding situation. This never used to be covered, but now you can buy this new coverage. Insurance companies also recommend installing automatic sump pumps and backwater valves in your main sewer line to prevent water claims. These preventative measures may result in a potential discount on your policy. The rates/eligibility will vary depending on your location; but with the recent flooding in Lloydminster, Calgary, High River, it may be worth looking into. Contact us to see what’s available for you.

As for your vehicles, it is important to always carry a package policy. The main reason is to carry a higher liability limit in case there was ever an injury or serious collision. The other reason is to have a reduced deductible in the event of a loss. Some of the plow winds up north have caused a ton of damage to people’s campers, trailers, boats and their trucks and cars. If you had to pay a $700 deductible for each of those losses, it would end up being quite expensive, but if you have a package policy, your deductible can be as low as $50 for that type of situation. Please ask us about an auto pak policy to help make an auto claim a little bit easier. These extension policies will also cover the vehicle and trailers during the winter months while they are in storage. For as little as $5 a month for a cabin trailer policy; it is worth looking into. Give us a call so we can help you out.

Summer storms can be volatile and you need to be prepared in the event that a storm occurs near your house or while you’re on vacation. If you have any concerns or questions, don’t hesitate to contact our office.