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Janice Abbott and her colleagues have been looking at the calendar lately and “getting more and more antsy every day.”

The Atira Women’s Society, the non-profit Abbott leads, has been trying since late last year to renew insurance for the roughly 40 buildings they operate around Metro Vancouver, providing thousands of non-market homes to low-income renters, including women and children fleeing violence.

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Atira had been told to expect their insurance premiums could double for 2020, Abbott said this week. But now, they find themselves in mid-March with insurance set to expire March 31 and despite their broker’s best efforts “working overtime,” she said, they’re unable to get a quote for insurance.

It’s the first time in Abbott’s 28 years as CEO of Atira that the group has been in this position, she said, and “it’s a huge concern.”

Bracing for a 100 per cent year-over-year increase was one thing, said Abbott, “but not being able to get a quote at all is shocking.”