Rogers Service Outage

Rogers Service Outage

Rogers Outage Tips: What comes next?

Many businesses have been affected by the Rogers Canada-wide outage.

Point of sale systems and debit machines are only processing credit card payments and some businesses are only accepting cash. As a somewhat cashless society, this has caused a loss of business for many companies.

As of July 9, 2022, Rogers released a statement indicating that its services have been restored to the majority of its customers. While this is welcome news for many, it does not negate the hundreds of thousands of dollars in loss that some businesses have faced when the outage occurred on July 8, 2022.

If you are one of the affected businesses that has experienced a disruption or loss of business during the Rogers service outage, you may have a number of options in seeking compensation.

What are my options for compensation?

There are a number of tools at your disposal if you have experienced a business operation interruption. You may:

• • Contact Rogers directly to determine if you are able to come to an agreement on a compensatory amount for the service outage;
  • Contact your credit card company or the bank/financial institution servicing your business line of credit or credit card, if you have Business Interruption Insurance;
  • File a claim with the Civil Resolution Tribunal if you cannot come to an agreement with Rogers on the amount of compensation you are willing to accept. CRT claim amounts are limited to $5000. If the amount of your experienced loss is higher than this amount, you may need to file your claim in Small Claims;
  • File a claim in small claims court. Small claims amounts are limited to $35,000. If the amount of your experienced loss is higher than this amount, you may need to file your claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia;
  • File a claim in Supreme Court of British Columbia. The Supreme Court of British Columbia hears claims of any amount and you may be able to settle your matter in this level of court.

The level of court will play a factor on what remedy you are trying to achieve. Another consideration will depend on your timeline and financial situation. The Supreme Court will be your most expensive option and most cases in the Supreme Court of BC do not get settled within the first years. If you are headed to trial, your case will require a longer period of time to get settled. You will want to compare your expenses and set your expectations before filing a claim in any of the above courts.

What is Business Interruption Insurance?

Business interruption insurance supports you when your business cannot operate as a result of a covered loss. Business interruption insurance pays out your fixed expenses such as your utilities, taxes and employee wages. It is meant to cover your business loss of earnings. Coverage typically runs from the time of the loss and continues until you are able to reopen your business. Your coverage depends on the kind of business you operate and the terms and conditions of your lender.

Regardless of what method you choose to mitigate your business interruption based on the Rogers service outage, our experienced team is ready to provide you with suitable options based on your particular circumstance. If you are having difficulty communicating with Rogers, get in touch with us today. Call us today at 604-930-9578 or 1-800-930-9986.