Sue and Peter Sisam can’t believe it’s gone.
“I grew up there, the kids grew up there. It’s very sad,” said Sue, describing how life changed for her family after June 25. “It was my happy place.”
The retired Toronto couple, in their 80s, got a 5 a.m. phone call from a cousin advising them that their modest, old-fashioned family cottage in Bracebridge was ablaze.
“It was a horrible day. Lots of tears, lot of upset,” said Sue, explaining to Global News how members of her family reacted when they realized the family cottage, built in 1966, had burned to the ground.
“It meant everything to us,” she said in a television interview.
Fire investigators and the Ontario Provincial Police determined that an arsonist had set the fire which resulted in a total loss.
And at the same time, the family realized they had another problem: the Sisams couldn’t count on their insurance company to help them rebuild. Just two weeks earlier, Chubb Insurance had cut off fire and all other insurance on the property, which the company had insured for almost four decades.
As a result of Chubb’s decision not to renew coverage, the Simams say they were unable to obtain insurance from any other company under the circumstances.
“Chubb really poisoned the well, we think, against other insurance companies,” said Patrick Sisam, the couple’s son.
“Fourteen days after their insurance was not renewed, someone burned down their house,” said Patrick, who told Global News the family unsuccessfully tried to get another company to insure the property, even after enlisting the help of a different broker than the one used for many years.
What brought about the decision to cut off insurance in the first place?
On May 6, the Sisam’s broker, Gallagher Insurance, advised that Chubb “will not offer the renewal” because of “issues with flood, land settling, foundation shifting, and wood rot.” These kinds of issues are familiar ones for cottage owners in Ontario.
The denial letter made no mention of any additional risk of fire that would justify cancelling the fire portion of their policy.
“They cancelled fire, theft, liability, everything — it’s as though they went, ‘We’ve got enough money from you and we’re not going to take that risk anymore,’” Patrick said.
The Sisams were in the process of having the foundation on the property repaired when Chubb decided not to renew the policy, which had been in place for almost 40 years, they said.
“It wasn’t a problem getting it fixed — the problem was trying to find contractors who would do it,” said Peter Sisam, Sue’s husband. He said one tradesperson had promised to do the work, then cancelled, and another contractor was due to show up not long before the fire.
Global News contacted Chubb Insurance for comment and was told the company had nothing to say about the family’s predicament.
“As a matter of policy we do not comment on individual client matters,” said Jeffrey Zack, Chubb’s senior vice president of communications in New York. (The family had given Global News consent to speak to Chubb about the file).
However, in a letter on Aug. 17 sent to the Sisams’ son, Chubb’s Canadian president and CEO claimed their case had been reviewed internally.
Paul Johnstone told the Sisams that “going through a non-renewal can be a frustrating process and we apologize for any inconvenience” adding that the action was taken “in good faith and fair notice was provided.”
Johnstone wrote that Chubb notified their broker of record on April 29 that the June 11 renewal “would not be offered.”
That gave the couple 43 days to find other insurance. They were unsuccessful.
Chubb’s decision not to renew the policy arose after the couple initiated an insurance claim for water damage through their longtime broker, Arthur J. Gallagher Canada.
The Sisams say the broker didn’t advise them that initiating a claim would trigger an inspection on their cottage and could result in a subsequent denial of all their insurance, including coverage for fire damage.
In a letter to the Sisams on Oct. 3, addressing allegations of wrongdoing on its part, Gallagher said it “denies that it acted negligently.”
“At no time was Gallagher advised by you that the cottage required maintenance,” wrote April Pittendreigh, vice president, national claims, for Gallagher Canada.
On Jan. 7, Chubb wrote the Sisams a letter advising that “structural damages are not related to a sudden incident but rather to longstanding wear and tear, gradual loss and structural movement.
The claim was denied. But the letter advising the Sisams of that decision was not sent to their permanent home in Toronto, but instead to the summer cottage, which was not occupied because it was winter.
The cost to reconstruct the cottage, a modest building that, when originally built did not even contain a bathroom, is estimated at about $700,000. But without any insurance coverage, the couple is unsure what they’ll do.
Chubb has refused to accept any responsibility. The insurance company has left the Sisams on the hook even to pay for the cost to remove debris from the cottage site on a barge, a bill estimated at about $25,000.
“We honestly don’t know what’s next,” Sue Sisam said.
A GoFundMe has been set up by family members to help the Sisams.