Wawanesa Insurance Blog

WAWANESA — The race is on to build a clay and sandbag dike to protect the west side of Wawanesa from being swallowed by the Souris River when it crests next week, at a height few could imagine until just days ago.

Pink ribbons tied to survey stakes mark the level to which the new earth dike has to be built within the next few days to hold back the Souris — the dike has to come up by a staggering eight feet.

To meet that height, Wawanesa, a picturesque Prairie town nestled in the Sipeweske Valley, is now clogged with heavy machinery and dump trucks hauling tons of sand and clay.

“I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet,” said resident Brent Cullen, who packed up family essentials Tuesday to be out by 6 p.m. under a mandatory evacuation order.

He’s one of 15 property owners told to get out. The local hospital and the personal care home have also been evacuated. For the foreseeable future, he and his wife will be living by night in the camper and sandbagging by day. They join the 2,937 Manitobans who as of Tuesday have been displaced by flooding this year.

“What do you do? You try to save the community. You can’t walk away.”

Cullen’s neighbour was also furiously packing.

“I have no time to talk to you,” she shouted from her window.

The Souris River is forecast to crest in Wawanesa between July 7 and 11 at a worst-case level of 38,000 cubic feet per second — twice what was seen April 26 when the Souris first peaked during the spring flood. It peaked a second time June 16 at 25,600 cfs.

“We were sandbagging in April to protect everything and now it’s June and we’re still sandbagging,” Candace Knautz said. “It’s ridiculous.”

Mayor Bruce Gullett said when the province first told town officials how high the dike had to come up, the news was met with disbelief and a heavy dose of skepticism.

Then everyone saw what happened upstream in Minot, N.D., and what the bloated Souris did there by forcing the evacuation of 11,000 of its residents and flooding 2,500 homes.

“We all know what needs to be done,” Gullett said as truck after truck hauled gravel to the new dike. “All the weather patterns we’ve seen so far just convinces you it isn’t stopping any time soon.”

Behind the Wawanesa Rec Centre dozens of volunteers have made about 10,000 sandbags over the past two days and hope to make 5,000 more by today. They’re stacked in piles on wood pallets to be hauled by tractors to the dike.

“If you asked me to describe Wawanesa a few days ago, I would have said it’s a lovely little town,” Gullett said outside the town’s school, closed since April after groundwater seeped into the building’s crawl space.

“Now, if you asked me today, well, we haven’t seen anything like this. The last time we had bad flooding was in 1976. It lasted only four days.”

On Tuesday, the province said the Souris River at Wawanesa was 14.4 feet higher than the normal level. At Melita to the south, it was 13.78 feet higher than normal; at Souris, it was 19.14 feet higher than normal.

The new dike at Wawanesa will be built to stand permanently, and although it will block the view of the river for those who live close to it, no one is complaining.

“It’s fantastic,” Ryan Heinrichs said. “It’ll save us.”

Heinrichs also had to be out by 6 p.m., moving his family to a hotel in Brandon until it’s safe to return.

“We’re taking what we need to wear,” he said. “Anything of value is in storage.”

The new dike will snake along the river’s edge for about two kilometres, past the school and baseball fields to end where the town’s new water park is being built on Water Street. Dozens of trees are being cut down to make way for the dike.

Again, no one is complaining.

“I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never seen anything like it,” 89-year-old Morley Roney said.

“And there’s another surge coming,” he said, showing how close his basement well is to overflowing because of the high water table. “And none of us really knows what will happen.”

Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/flood-disaster-stalks-wawanesa-124695904.html

WINNIPEG, March 1 /CNW/ – Unexplained credit card charges, collection
agency visits, declined credit – all potential symptoms of identity fraud.
Detecting the fraud is merely the first step for victims. There is also
considerable expense involved in reversing the effects. According to John
Bjornson, VP Marketing & Property Underwriting, that is why Wawanesa Insurance
has introduced “Identity Fraud Expense Coverage”. The $10,000 coverage will be
automatically applied to existing Wawanesa Insurance Home, Tenant, Mobile Home
and Farm package policies at no additional premium starting March 1, 2007.
“Wawanesa and our insurance brokers are launching a campaign to help
educate our customers about the realities of identity fraud so that they can
reduce their risk of becoming a victim. For those who unfortunately do become
a victim, we want to help ease their burden by paying for covered expenses,”
he says. Bjornson indicates the policyholder has the entire limit to use for
covered expenses in any manner they choose. “From loss of wages, to the hiring
of fraud mitigation specialists, the policyholder can recover expenses that
matter to them. We want them to be comforted in knowing that they are covered
for expenses, should they become a victim of identity fraud,” he explains.
Note to editors: “Identity fraud” means the act of using, without lawful
authority, of identifying information, to commit any unlawful activity that
constitutes a crime or violation of any federal, provincial, territorial,
municipal or local law.

Founded in 1896 and owned by its policyholders, The Wawanesa Mutual
Insurance Company is one of the largest property and casualty insurers in
Canada.

For further information: John Bjornson, VP Marketing & Property
Underwriting, Wawanesa Insurance, (204) 985-3931

WINNIPEG, Dec. 4 /CNW/ – “Wawanesa Insurance will implement the further
government mandated automobile insurance rate reductions announced today,
despite our concerns”, says Gregg Hanson, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Wawanesa. “We share with the Government of New Brunswick the
objective of stable insurance rates for New Brunswick drivers now and in the
future. The price of insurance follows the cost of claims; therefore if you
control the cost of claims, you stabilize the price of insurance. In fact,
since July 2003, as claims costs have dropped Wawanesa has reduced rates by
more than 20%”, he explains. “The Government of New Brunswick made a campaign
promise to further reduce auto insurance rates for New Brunswick consumers. It
is unfortunate that they felt compelled to circumvent the province’s own
existing independent body, the New Brunswick Insurance Board. Rates were
already declining as claims costs were coming down. This political
intervention would not have been necessary in an industry where competition
exists and extensive regulation is already in place”, Hanson says.
Hanson points out that just as increasing insurance rates too severely at
a point in time can create difficulties for consumers, reducing rates too much
at one time can create future risk of instability. Wawanesa Insurance had
recently filed with the New Brunswick Insurance Board and had a reduction of
7.5% approved effective January 1st, 2007 based on sound actuarial principles
and practices. The Government of New Brunswick directive announced today
requires insurance companies to reduce premiums by 13.5%, or another 6% for
Wawanesa.
“Despite our reservations on their actions, we are committed to working
with the Government of New Brunswick, insurance regulators and the New
Brunswick Insurance Board. We commend the Government’s strong endorsement of
strengthening graduated licensing for inexperienced drivers, since it can
enhance the driving climate for all. We also note their commitment to
re-evaluation of traffic patterns, population redistribution and other
relevant criteria to assess risk”, Hanson says. Of particular interest to
Wawanesa is a continued emphasis on prevention programs that not only save
lives and reduce injuries, but also affect insurance costs. “We know that
programs that enforce speed limits, endorse anti-theft devices and vehicle
immobilizers, promote seat belt usage, proper headrest adjustment, safer
vehicles, and even the use of winter tires, all contribute to a reduction in
the number of collisions and the severity of these losses. For this reason,
Wawanesa, through its trade association, the Insurance Bureau of Canada,
currently funds community-based safety programs across the province of New
Brunswick” he says.
Hanson concludes by stating, “As the largest writer of auto insurance in
the Province of New Brunswick and with 70 employees across New Brunswick,
Wawanesa Insurance is committed to stability of insurance rates, the
competitiveness of the marketplace, and the promotion of safe driving
conditions”.

Founded in 1896 and owned by policyholders, The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance
Company is one of the largest property and casualty insurers in Canada.

The site has been updated with Wawanesa page, this page is about Wawanesa – not only insurance company but the village of Wawanesa.

Wawanesa is a sweet little village in Canada. Company was born in this village and since then it has such name.

Please read full story and send me your thoughts… comments… anything! Ifyou have something to add please! I will be glad to add your story on this site.

Our Email: contact@wawanesa-insurance.net

It is sometimes said by poets that life is but a span, and if something bad happened to you, yours family would have to go through a heavy time; the welfare of your family would be deteriorated.
Life insurance companies offer you various insurance programs, which will provide financial security of your family in case of death, disability in your future. They help you keep your head above water, as well as support your most optimal plans.

Most life insurance companies are reputable because of the strict regulations in Canada and throughout the world.

The best way to get a good selection of life insurance most fitted to your needs in this day is to use the Internet.

It could be quickly found out that Wawanesa Life is among best rating life insurance companies.

Wawanesa Life is a subsidiary company of the Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Co. Wawanesa has a rich history dating back to 1896, when it was founded in the Village of Wawanesa, Manitoba. Today executive offices are located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Wawanesa Mutual operates in all areas of Canada as well as in the states of California and Oregon in U.S.A.

Wawanesa was awarded an A+ (Superior) Rating for its financial strength from A.M. Best Co. the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source.

Some of Wawanesa traits are the out standing claims service and underwriting service, consistent range of quality products and among them:

Individual Products and Services.

It should be noted that a vast array of life insurance policy types available consists of one of two basic forms: Permanent insurance and Term insurance.

As the names imply, permanent insurance is permanent for life and term insurance is temporary. Examples of permanent needs are funeral expenses, survivors’ income, taxes at death on capital gains and charitable bequests. Examples of temporary needs are mortgages, education and business loans.

Permanent Products

Types of permanent insurance plan:

Universal Life is a permanent insurance plan providing for separation of the insurance and savings components of the policy. All premiums are generally deposited to interest bearing investment accounts. From these accounts it is deducted Cost of Insurance (COI) charges and administration fees. Policyholders could direct premiums to different account choices, such as a Daily Interest Account, a Canadian Equity Index-Linked Account, a U.S. Equity Index-Linked Account, an International Equity Index Account and a Canadian Bond Index Account. It may be selected two COI charge methods by the policyholder. The charge may be level for policy’s life, or may be level (at a lower amount) up to age 65 with a following increase to a new higher amount for policy’s remainder.
The tax-free death benefit will consist of the death benefit provided by the insurance coverage selected plus the value of the different investment accounts. The Account Value, less a surrender charge in the early years, will be available to the policyholder upon surrender before the death of the life insured;

Term to Age 100 – this plan provides a level amount of permanent life insurance, to ago 100 of the life insured, at which time the face amount of insurance is paid.
Premiums are level and payable to age 100. This plan is also available on a joint-last to die basis;

Fifteen Pay Term to Age 100 plan provides a level amount of permanent life insurance to age 100 of the life insured, at which time the face amount of insurance is paid. All premiums are guaranteed, level and payable for 15 years only. Commencing in the 10 th year.
A guaranteed cash value will develop to be available to the policyholder upon surrender before the death of the life insured;

Twenty Pay Term to Age 100 plan provides a level amount of permanent life insurance to age 100 of the life insured, at which time the face amount of insurance is paid. All premiums are level and payable for 20 years only.
Commencing in the 10 th year a guaranteed cash value will develop to be available to the policyholder upon surrender before the death of the life insured;

Final Expense Plan is designed for individuals age 45 to 75. This permanent plan is a guaranteed issue with just 5 qualifying questions.
Premiums are level and payable for 20 years only. The death benefit in the first 2 years will be the return of paid premium plus 10 % interest to the death date. When death occurs it is paid the full protection. The death benefit amount is paid to the policyowner if living after the later of 20 years, or age 85.

Types of Temporary Products:

Life Style Term – these plans consist of 10 years or 20 years Renewable and Convertible Term Insurance. The insured sum is level and premiums are guaranteed.
Life Style Term can be renewed until age 80 of the life insured, at which time the insurance terminates. These plans are also available on a joint – first to die basis;

Preferred Underwriting of Life Style Term

These plans allow applicant to be grouped into a greater variety of lifestyle categories resulting in a more appropriate premium being charged. In the past, healthier applicants subsidized the insurance costs of less healthy ones. Life Style Term rewards better risks with lower premiums. Three nonsmoker classes and two smoker classes are included in Preferred Underwriting classes available for Life Style Term;

Lifestyle Adjustment Plan (critical illness protection) – this plan is designed to provide funds helping you care financially for yourself and your family maintaining the same quality of life after surviving a critical illness.
The plan provides a tax-free lump sum living benefit to the plan owner on the occurrence of the first of the covered illnesses of the insured, provided the insured survives the waiting period following the critical illness onset.
The waiting period is 30 days from diagnosis, except for Loss of Speech (6 months) and Paralysis (90 days). No living benefit is payable if cancer is diagnosed within 90 days of issue.
Three types of Life style Adjustment plans are available: 10 year Renewable to Age 75, Level to Age 75 and Level to age with Return of Premium.
Wawanesa Life has a plan to meet any your insurance and financial needs which can be tailored fitting your needs.

For more information, please, contact an Insurance Advisor from Wawanesa Life.