Letter from the table: A claim is not a reopening plan

To the Resilience Council

I co-signed because I know the difference between being told that a storm is over and being able to reopen. I also want the standard to be workable when an insurer and an owner disagree about what a policy covers. My stance is amend.

On 21 May 2022, the derecho crossed Ottawa. The power went out where I work, and the wind damaged part of the premises. The City of Ottawa declared a state of emergency the next day. That declaration mattered: it told residents and institutions that this was not an ordinary interruption. It did not, by itself, put money in my account or settle an insurance claim.

I reported the damage to my insurer on 24 May. I took photographs, kept receipts, made a list of what had to be replaced, and sent the documents I was asked for. I also tried to keep the place safe and prevent further damage. I used personal savings for urgent costs, then asked my bank about temporary credit. The available credit would have carried interest and still would not have covered the whole gap. I borrowed from family for immediate expenses. I did not want to make that their problem, but there was no orderly alternative.

My first estimate was about C$8,740 in damaged equipment, materials and cleanup. I paid C$1,460 for urgent work and temporary arrangements before the adjuster visited on 2 June. Some of those costs were necessary to protect the premises; they were not the same thing as restoring normal operations. I kept every receipt because I understood that the burden of proving a loss would fall on me.

The insurer sent its written decision on 18 July, nearly two months after the storm. It accepted C$6,100 of the amount I had claimed, subject to the policy terms and deductible. I am not saying the insurer should have accepted every item. Some items were disputed, and I could see why records and a review were needed. What I could not plan around was the silence while I waited to learn which parts were accepted,

which were not, and what further proof was required. The eventual decision was useful; the delay before a clear decision was its own cost.

I looked into the Ontario Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program as well. It is a provincial program for eligible losses in qualifying disasters, not an automatic advance on a private insurance claim. That distinction is important. Public assistance can matter, but an owner cannot assume that a municipal emergency declaration means funds will arrive quickly, or that every business loss is covered. In the meantime, rent, bills and the work of getting back to normal do not wait for a file to move.

That is why I support the direction of RS-001: decisions within 30 days, bridge funding within 10 days of a declared disaster, and continuity planning support for micro businesses. But I ask the Council to amend the wording before adoption. A 30-day deadline should require a clear written decision on the evidence already available, or a written account of what remains missing and why. Where part of a claim is undisputed, the standard should encourage prompt payment of that part, without pretending that a difficult coverage dispute can always be resolved in a month. A clock that stops silently when a file is marked “incomplete” would not protect an owner. Any pause should be explained, dated and limited to the information genuinely needed.

The bridge-funding promise needs the same practical care. A declared disaster is a useful trigger, but the standard should explain who administers the support, how a very small business applies, and what happens when a community is badly affected but no formal declaration is made. The assistance should bridge the period before recovery, not become another long application whose answer comes after the money is needed. Continuity support should be simple enough for an owner with no dedicated administrator: a short plan, a contact list, a backup for essential records, and clear advice on what to do first.

I have added my experience to the Reopen Map because a map of damage should also show the distance between an event and reopening. As storm season begins again, I want this evidence to help the Council make a standard that people can use under pressure. The point is not to promise that every loss can be made whole. It is to make the next steps visible, time-bound and fair.