Hi there, this is Brendan Stoneman with RE/MAX Kelowna, and I'm joined by Anita Petersen with Axis Insurance All right, so we live in the Okanagan

It's a beautiful place to live, but definitely one of the drawbacks with our hot summers and dry, you know, months on end without any rain, is we often have problems with forest fires burning in the summer Just wanted to chat with you about how that relates to home insurance What happens if there's a fire burning in the Okanagan and people need their insurance in order to close their sale? – It makes it pretty difficult If there's an active fire within 50 kilometers of that home, chances are we're not going to be able to insure it Brokers and insurance companies work with the BC Wildfire Service and their website

If there is an active forest fire on their website, it's Our hands are tied Special-risk companies tend to look, you know, if there's a lake in between a house and a fire, sometimes there's special circumstances, but it's a really tough thing to do when there's a fire

– Yeah, and we do see that from time to time, for sure And so that's a 50 kilometer radius? – [Anita] Yes – So I have heard there are some insurance companies that There was a fire burning in Knox Mountain, people in West Kelowna could not get insurance 'cause they were within that radius even though the fire would have to jump Okanagan Lake, which is impossible, and they still couldn't get it, so – [Anita] Yeah – What are some of the things that people can do to kind of help minimize the concern in fire season? If, you know, their closing date's coming up and they need their insurance? – I would work with my realtor and the selling realtor to see if the previous owners are willing to hold coverage on their home until there is no more risk

That's what we learned last summer with the fires, was working hand in hand with both seller and buyer to make sure that that policy was still in effect while there was a fire burning The sooner you come in for a quote, 30 days, essentially, if you come in and see me, we can guarantee the coverage and all that kind of stuff – So within 30 days of the closing date, people can go in and actually get their insurance in place so that if a fire starts – [Anita] Two weeks after that – Two weeks before closing, you've still got your coverage, and – Exactly

– [Brendan] The deal moves ahead according to plan – That's right – [Brendan] Perfect Great advice – Thank you