By Goat Staff
Residents affected by recent flooding and landslides may get some relief from government.
The Province has approved Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) for residents impacted by landslides and major flooding in the Northeast region from June 14 – July 13, 2020. Disaster Financial Assistance is a provincial program to help individuals and local governments recover from uninsurable disasters, and is administered by Emergency Management BC, part of the Ministry of Justice.
Qualifying claimants include homeowners, residential tenants, small business owners, farmers, charitable organizations and local government bodies, who are unable to obtain insurance to cover disaster-related losses.
DFA can compensate individuals for 80% of eligible claims, after the first $1,000 to a
maximum claim of $300,000. It only covers uninsurable losses and losses where there is no other program offered by local, provincial, federal or international governments or agencies.
DFA covers essential items only – including help to repair and restore damaged homes and to re-establish or maintain the viability of small businesses and working farms. Loss of land or damage to land (except for some farm land) is not eligible for DFA.
More information is available online at http://www.gov.bc.ca/disasterfinancialassistance where residents can access the DFA Application Form, ‘Disaster Financial Assistance Guidelines for Private Sector’, information bulletins about
DFA and insurance and ‘One Step at a time – A Guide to Disaster Recovery’.
Residents are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible to have their damage assessed promptly. The final deadline for submitting an application to Emergency Management BC will be October 16, 2020 by email [email protected] or fax 250-952-5542.
Further questions about this Disaster Financial Assistance announcement can be directed to Carrie Dallaway, Manager, Recovery and Funding Programs, Emergency Management BC, 250-588-9518.
