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First Notice of Loss: What to Do in the First 72 Hours
Faculty of InsuranceClaims Process
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A restaurant owner in a mid-sized Ontario city arrived to find her establishment heavily damaged by fire that had started overnight in the kitchen exhaust system, destroying the kitchen and leaving the dining area with significant smoke and water damage. The restaurant had operated for 11 years under a commercial lease, and the owner held a policy with $850,000 in property coverage and $300,000 in business interruption coverage through a national insurer. In the hours following the fire, she permitted a restoration contractor to begin emergency work before notifying her insurer, signed an authorization allowing the contractor to communicate directly with the insurance company, provided a recorded statement within 36 hours without reviewing her policy, and disposed of spoiled food inventory before it could be documented. The insurer acknowledged the claim but reserved rights pending investigation, citing concerns about the sequence of events and available documentation.

The First 72 Hours: What to Do and What Not to Do Before Talking to Your Insurer

The first seventy-two hours after a loss event represent a critical window where the decisions a policyholder makes can determine whether a claim proceeds smoothly or becomes mired in disputes, delays, and potentially reduced settlements. This period exists in a peculiar state of tension between urgency and restraint. The policyholder must act quickly to protect property and document damage, yet must also exercise caution to avoid actions that could prejudice their coverage or inadvertently create admissions that complicate the claims process. Understanding what to do and what not to do during this window requires knowledge of both the legal obligations that flow from insurance contracts and the practical realities of how insurers evaluate and investigate claims across Canada.

Insurance policies in Canada impose duties on policyholders that begin immediately upon the occurrence of a loss, and these duties exist regardless of which province the insured property is located in. The statutory conditions found in provincial insurance legislation across the country establish the foundational framework for policyholder obligations. In common law provinces, the statutory conditions are substantially similar, having been harmonized over decades of insurance law development. British Columbia's Insurance Act, Alberta's Insurance Act, Saskatchewan's Insurance Act, Ontario's Insurance Act, and the insurance statutes of Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador all contain statutory conditions that require the insured to protect property from further damage, provide proof of loss when requested, and cooperate with the insurer's investigation. Quebec operates under a distinct framework governed by the Civil Code of Quebec, which establishes analogous duties in a civil law context, though the specific language and interpretive principles differ from the common law approach. As of the date of authorship, these statutory frameworks remain the governing structure for policyholder obligations, though readers should verify current provisions for any specific jurisdiction in which they are working.

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