An Ottawa couple still can’t move back into their home months after it was damaged by a tornado.
First time homeowners Miranda Lepore and Cory Papineau were uprooted from their home in Barrhaven after a tornado severely damaged their home on July 13.
Since then, they say they’ve had a frustrating time dealing with their insurance provider.
“(Neighbours) are all either back in the homes now, or getting in by the end of next week, and as we’ve hit the seven-month window, we haven’t even started working on our house yet”, says Lepore.
The house still needs extensive repairs. The tornado struck the house with such force that the city deemed it unliveable. The structural integrity of their home is what the couple says is keeping them from returning.
The couple contacted their insurance provider immediately after the tornado, and had their claim started. Since then, the couple says they have a difficult time getting answers from their provider, after multiple attempts to contact them.
Miranda Lepore and Cory Papineau’s Barrhaven home remains boarded up months after it was damaged by a tornado in the summer of 2023. (Kimberley Fowler/CTV News Ottawa)
In a statement to CTV News, Intact Insurance says in part, “our teams have been actively working with this customer to help get them back on track, finalize the scope of work to address damages and their needs throughout this process.”
The couple says they waited five months to receive a work order.
“That was back in November. We haven’t received a new, updated, addressed work order or anything yet,” said Lepore.
Just after the initial claim was made, the couple’s original insurance company merged with Intact Financial Corporation. The couple believes that has added to the frustration of their claim, saying that they feel their claim has been tossed around and they are not getting the service they paid for to protect their home and keep it safe.
“We’ve never dealt with insurance before, we don’t know how it’s supposed to work, but to hear our neighbours are already back in their house, it has just been a very different experience,” Lepore adds.
Papineau says, “We just want to get back into our home in the state it was, before we submitted our claim.”
