THUNDER BAY – The city has approved an agreement that could net $100,000 to recover the costs of fighting fires.
Council on Monday night voted in favour of a proposal to partner with Fire Marque, Inc., a Canadian company specializing in initiating insurance claims to access money available to fire departments.
Chris Carrier, Fire Marque’s national municipal accounts manager, said fire departments have not traditionally had the capability of pursuing those claims.
“Under the additional coverages section in the co-operators’ policy, there is $5,000 sitting there for the fire service,” Carrier said, adding the property owner is not eligible to collect that money. “The only people that are entitled to those funds are your fire service.”
The agreement will see 70 per cent of the recovered money go to the city, with 30 per cent retained by Fire Marque.
The report prepared by administration for council said the “payment to the fire departments in no way affects the claim of the individuals who may have suffered a loss” and “no expenses are incurred by the corporation if Fire Marque Inc. are not successful in their attempts to collect against an insurance policy.”
As well, there won’t be any efforts to collect from a property owner or individual who is uninsured.
The report noted other Ontario municipalities that have partnered with Fire Marque included North Bay, Kitchener, Oshawa, Gravenhurst, Brockville, St. Thomas and Cornwall.
Mayor Keith Hobbs questioned a portion of the report which said “some insurance companies have refused to pay claims that have been filed on behalf of the municipality, making it necessary to apply the amount of the claim against the property owner’s tax bill and then collect the amount owed in an indirect manner from the insurance company.”
Carrier said that is a rare scenario which was likely a tactic employed by an insurance carrier to test whether they could avoid paying.
“About two per cent of the files we see are deemed to be somewhat problematic. We have a particular insurance carrier who came into the Canadian market a few years ago – a foreign company – who said they would not pay our fees, the cost recovery to the fire department, unless it was put on the property tax roll,” Carrier said.
“Since that time they’ve changed their tune and they are now paying through the regular process.”
