Record number of hail-damage claims could reach 40,000 after June storms: MPI By: Chris Kitching Posted: 2:10 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 18, 2026 Last Modified: 5:14 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 18, 2026 Updates

A record number of damage claims submitted to Manitoba Public Insurance for June storms could approach 40,000, prompting questions about what it could mean for customers’ annual rates.

MPI vice-president and chief claims officer John Bowering said about 22,000 claims — almost all for hail damage and 80 per cent of them from Winnipeg — had been received as of Thursday morning.

“The numbers have been larger than anything we’ve seen in our history,” he said during a tour of the Crown corporation’s temporary hail response centre in East Kildonan.

Bowering said it’s too early to say if the surge in claims could lead to higher insurance rates.

“Just like many Manitobans have auto insurance to protect them from a large unexpected loss, insurance companies have what’s called reinsurance,” he said.

“That is a way for us to protect ratepayers from rate shock. We insure ourselves over a certain dollar limit, and then we can go to the reinsurers and recover some of the cost from these claims.”

Pea- to grapefruit-sized hail caused damage across southern Manitoba on June 9.

“This one hit directly in Winnipeg, and so as a result, it impacted a lot of Manitobans,” Bowering said.

A large hail storm usually leads to about 7,000 to 8,000 claims. MPI received about 24,000, the current record, after a storm in 1996, and about 16,000 after one in 2023.

“The numbers have been larger than anything we’ve seen in our history.”

“This one will surpass (2023) later this week, and we’ll probably hit 30,000 to even potentially as high as 40,000 claims by the end of the year as the claims slowly come in,” Bowering said.

Gurbinder Bhullar and her husband made their first of two visits to the hail response centre Thursday. Their two cars had dents and broken windows after being pummelled by hail outside their East Kildonan home.

“I just bought the car a week before the hail, and I really like this car,” Bhullar said of her pre-owned 2021 Toyota Corolla.

She said an estimator told her the sedan could be a writeoff because the roof was badly dented.

“I’m not feeling good,” Bhullar said.

Alyssa Barnowich’s Kia Forte was covered in dents and had plastic taped over the back window, which was shattered by hail outside her Valley Gardens home.

She was relieved when told the car, purchased five years ago, wouldn’t be written off.

“It’s just about paid off, so I don’t want to have to buy a new vehicle right now,” said Barnowich, who submitted a claim the day after the storm. “I was surprised to get an appointment so quickly. I’m happy it’s progressing quickly.”

She and Bhullar are concerned the high number of claims could influence insurance rates.

Jason Thistlethwaite, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo’s school of environment, enterprise and development, said MPI is a large enough corporation that it can afford to get private reinsurance, or insurance for insurers, for this type of peril.

“(The storm) is absolutely going to be quite expensive, but the impacts on premiums might be mitigated by the design of the insurance system itself,” he said.

“For extreme loss events, there’s a normally a threshold in the policy for when the losses get so big a reinsurance policy will kick in and absorb some of those losses. That will significantly help the cost.”

“I’m not feeling good.”

A new Statistics Canada study said extreme weather — exacerbated by climate change — is becoming more frequent, severe and costly. Thistlethwaite said Canada’s insurance industry is under significant pressure.

Manitobans with storm-damaged vehicles can visit MPI’s website or call its contact centre to open a claim.

Customers in some communities, including Winnipeg, will receive an email to book an appointment at the hail response centre at Gateway Road and Lexington Park, which is normally a service centre.

Bowering said it is the first time MPI has used online claims and self-service appointment booking systems after a large storm. The goal is to reduce wait times.

At the hail response centre, estimators are aiming to conduct initial damage assessments for 300 vehicles per day to determine whether they are repairable or will be written off. A steady stream of drivers went through the centre while journalists were given an inside look Thursday, a day after it opened.

Bowering said the earliest available appointments were for Sunday, as of Thursday, while appointments for weekdays and Saturdays, which are highest in demand, are already booking a few weeks out.

Alternatively, customers who submit a claim can go to an MPI-accredited repair shop to get a full damage estimate for eligible claims or book an appointment at an MPI service centre, depending on their location.

Bowering said the hail response centre will run seven days a week and probably for two to three months to help process claims as quickly as possible. A second location could open if demand is high enough.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca