Above Watch: Pool companies in Moncton have been swamped with calls from homeowner’s whose pools were damaged or destroyed by snow load this past winter. Shelley Steeves reports.
MONCTON – Residents with backyard pools may have to wait months to take their first swim of the season.
Companies have been swamped with calls from homeowner’s whose pools were damaged or destroyed by snow this past winter.
Matt Remington, President of Remington Home Leisure in Moncton has been taking a record number of calls from frantic home owners whose pools were destroyed over the winter.
“This year we are over four times what we had last year,” he said. “We are dealing with the huge influx of insurance claims for all types of pools primarily above ground.”
Pool walls buckled under the pressure of the more than 500 cm of snow that fell this past winter.
Remington is now booking repair work all the way into the fall. But he says he can’t even start a single job until the ground dries up.
“Everyone wants it done yesterday but it’s going to be tough this year for sure,” he said.
So he says a dip in the pool this summer may be a no-go for some home owners.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada does not track the number of claims related to damaged pools.
But the silver lining, according to broker Frank Chandler, is that even if there have been a record number of claims this spring, that doesn’t mean overall premiums for pool coverage will take a spike.
“It’s based on several years of continuous claims that may impact those insurance policies but it takes a long time for that to come back through to everybody,” he said.
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