It's been 3½ years since Fiona, but N.S. man still fighting insurer to get home fixed

N.S. Adult male relieve fighting insurer o'er post-tropical force Fiona claim

As Stephen MacMillan walks through his home, pointing out mould and water damage, he comes to a door with a sign on it that reads, "Sophie's room."

"It's just gut-wrenching to come in here and then see your daughter's name on her room and [my three children] not being here," he said.

That's because of a dispute MacMillan has been going through with his insurer, Intact Insurance, for the past 3½ years, which has left the East Mountain, N.S., home not fully repaired and MacMillan spending this past winter in a trailer.

"They know what they're doing and it's deliberate," he said. "It's ignore, delay, deflect, deny and then defend. Nothing. Just trying to starve you out hoping that you'll die … so that they don't have to pay."

MacMillan's home resembles a half-finished construction project, with a labyrinth of wires and lumber exposed in areas where damaged ceilings were removed. All personal possessions have been removed.

The home's issues have their roots in September 2022's post-tropical storm Fiona, one of the most powerful and destructive storms in Canadian history. He's not alone. A public adjuster working on the case says his firm continues to handle Fiona claims in the Maritimes.

When Fiona reached MacMillan's home in central Nova Scotia, the damage included tearing shingles off the roof, water damage and some downed trees.

MacMillan said he reported the claim to his insurer, who told him to do what he could to mitigate the damage, such as placing tarps on the roof, which MacMillan did.

He said it took about two weeks for a roofing crew to show up. They removed the temporary repairs MacMillan had installed and carried out repair work. MacMillan said within a day of their repairs, some of what was installed was blowing off. The second repair had much the same result as the first.

MacMillan said it took more than a year to make any progress with the insurer on getting a permanent repair done to the roof. MacMillan said the holdup was because the property restoration company hired to carry out the job — a company Intact owns — asked him to sign a document stating he'd be responsible for any amount not paid by the insurer.

Eventually, Intact and MacMillan agreed on an amount for the repair. MacMillan found a local contractor to do the roofing repairs.

MacMillan said because the initial roof repairs were not carried out correctly, water leaked into the home.

Some of the things MacMillan said he did to resolve the matter include contacting politicians, but he said he received unsatisfactory responses.

MacMillan also contacted Nova Scotia's Office of the Superintendent of Insurance. MacMillan said he was told to accept the insurance company's offer. In a statement, a Finance Department spokesperson said the office does not "direct consumers to accept or reject settlement offers."

While the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance can help with people's inquiries or complaints, it can't settle insurance claims, says its website. It recommends people first contact their insurer or the insurer's ombudsman to resolve problems.

MacMillan said he didn't contact Intact's ombudsman because he didn't think he'd get a fair outcome.

At odds with his insurer and their adjuster, the persistent MacMillan turned to a New Brunswick company, ClearClaim Adjusters, in April 2024 to act on his behalf.

Unlike an independent adjuster who represents insurers, public adjusters represent property owners. They are either paid a commission out of the insured's final settlement or they are paid based on an hourly rate plus expenses.

Francis Martin, the public adjuster handling MacMillan's claim, said to think of insurance claims as a "picture in time," with the claim supposed to pay for damage as it originally was on the claim date.

But he said the further you get from that date, the more room there is for mistakes on all sides and it becomes hard to distinguish who is at fault and for how much, leading to disputes.

"Where we got into issues with Stephen's claim is there was a lot of widespread damage that was not addressed properly [or] promptly enough," he said.

Martin said repairs for MacMillan's home will probably exceed $150,000.

He characterized current negotiations with Intact as productive and is optimistic they will resolve the claim.

In a statement, Intact said it was unable to comment on any specific customer file due to privacy requirements. The company said following Fiona, it received approximately 7,000 claims, of which more than 99 per cent have closed.

"We continue to work closely with customers to resolve the remaining cases, which can take longer where circumstances are more complex," said the statement.

Martin said ClearClaim ran some radio ads a couple of years ago targeting people who hadn't had Fiona claims resolved.

"We had received quite a large influx of claims that maybe we didn't anticipate because we figured there would just be a few stragglers, but it turns out that there's a widespread issue of Fiona, even still to this day," said Martin, noting ClearClaim has handled claims in all three Maritime provinces.

MacMillan has been living in a trailer on the property since last year.

In an email, Martin said mould is toxic to humans, so it's not usually recommended to stay in a home where it's present. He said mould can cause respiratory issues, with babies and elderly people being more susceptible to its harmful effects.

When the temperature dips below roughly –3 C, MacMillan loses running water. This winter, that meant being without running water regularly.

Practically speaking, there's no room in the trailer for his kids to stay over. MacMillan said not having his kids with him is the worst part of the ordeal.

"It's something you can't really describe until you go through it," he said. "I mean, they're your everything, right? You live for them. Everything you did, you did for them."

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