Lambton’s social housing insurance premium more than triples to $932K

By sad coincidence, a Lambton County council committee learned of soaring social housing insurance premiums a day after a fatal fire at county-owned Sarnia apartment building.

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The six-storey, 62-unit Avondale Apartments on Euphemia Street is part of the county’s stock of social housing.

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Firefighters called to the building Tuesday evening found smoke coming from a third-floor unit, forced the door and discovered an unresponsive man. He was treated by paramedics, but did not survive.

“Quite an unfortunate incident,” said Stéphane Thiffeault, the county’s chief administrator.

The fire did minimal damage to a small area of ​​the apartment, Sarnia Fire Rescue Services said.

Wednesday, a county council committee learned the insurance premium for Lambton’s social housing was set to jump 585 per cent to $1.9 million due to increased claims and other factors.

County staff negotiated with the insurer to lower the increase to 236 per cent, by increasing its claim deductible from $50,000 to $250,000, according to a report prepared before Tuesday’s fire.

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Lambton’s new premium for social housing insurance through November 2024 will be $932,401, up from $277,175 the previous year.

Ryan Beauchamp, the county’s solicitor-clerk, said staff looked for other options but “were not able to secure any other quotes for our housing portfolio, at this time.”

Staff will look at increasing the housing department’s reserves in the 2024 budget to have funds available to pay any insurance deductibles next year, he said.

“It’s going to put a strain on our budgets if we’re just going to keep carrying that extra amount,” said Doug Cook, mayor of Lambton Shores.

The county’s social housing insurer paid out $6.77 in claims for every dollar in premiums Lambton paid since 2921, the report noted.

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In the last 18 months, the county department made six claims for fire and tenant negligence, plus two claims for slip and fall, and building component failures.

At the same time, insurance premiums have been rising in general while the value of Lambton’s social housing stock has increased to more than $25 million, leading to a need for additional coverage, the report said.

Staff plan to look for other ways to reduce the impact of the premium increase while preparing next year’s budget, and also will consider seeking new quotes for coverage, it added.

Petrolia Mayor Brad Loosley suggested exploring “self-insuring” in partnership with other counties.

“Insurance is just getting way out of whack, right now,” he said. “It may be something to consider.”

Staff looked at that option, Thiffeault said.

“There’s certainly some math to be done – some calculations and probabilities to consider,” he said. “Given the value of the assets and the risks of catastrophic loss, and our current claims history, at this point. . . it’s probably not the best option.”

But it’s “something to look at” in the future, he added.

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