Insurance steep for snowbound Iqalummiut

A Road to Nowhere resident who feared no insurance company would touch her snowbound home has found someone willing to do business with her – for a steep price.

Doreen Follett spoke to Iqaluit city council in late October about her troubles finding a company to insure the home she bought in 2002, which becomes mired in snowdrifts during the long winter. Two years in a row, the deck collapsed. She says an insurance adjuster told her the home was a high liability because of the snow.

In early November she finally found a company willing to insure the house, but at a hefty cost: her new premiums are $3,245, dwarfing her previous $1,170.

“It’s not something I want to be paying. I just think I shouldn’t be paying it,” she said.

Follett said she’s given up trying to sell the home.

The city is developing a plan to put up snow fencing around the neighbourhood by Christmas, pending final approval from council. Still, Follett said she doesn’t plan to stay put once the snow begins to pile up once more.

“I won’t live there this winter, with that amount of snow, she said. “I’m not going to be there and worry if the roof is going to come down, or if snowmobiles are going overhead.”