Pubdate: Thu, 12 Apr 2012
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact: 
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/includes/email_forms/letters_to_editor.php
Website: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Author: Ron Seymour

MARIJUANA GROWER'S INSURANCE GOES TO POT

A Kelowna woman on a disability pension faces a fivefold increase in 
her house insurance because she has a medical marijuana licence.

Nadia Kroll says her premium will jump from $600 to more than $3,000 
because she has legal permission to grow 25 pot plants.

The 56-year-old woman says she can't afford the big increase, and 
fears she won't have any insurance when her current policy expires May 2.

"I don't think it's right that I should have to pay so much for 
insurance," Kroll said Wednesday. "I don't know what's going to 
happen . . . maybe I'll have to pitch a tent somewhere and go live in that."

But the owner of a Kelowna firm that advises people with medical 
marijuana licences says Kroll shouldn't have to pay such a 
considerably increased premium for her house insurance.

"This question does come up from time to time, and it's usually 
because some insurance companies just don't want to take on the extra 
risk they think is associated with a legal growing operation," said 
Don Schulz of Greenline Academy.

"But if someone has all their paperwork in order, and they can show 
their insurer that they've got the right set-up in terms of their 
plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems, it's usually not that much of 
a problem," Schulz said.

An insurer based on the Coast, Schulz said, will usually write 
policies for people with medical marijuana licences that don't result 
in significantly higher premiums than they were paying before.

"It's like anything else, you just have to do some shopping around," 
Schulz said. "It takes time, but it's worth it."

Kroll got her medical marijuana licence two years ago to help her 
deal with the arthritis in her hands. She's owned her home since 
1999, but was told earlier this year that her provider would not 
renew her policy because she's now considered high-risk.

"They just kicked me out," Kroll said. "I went around (to other 
providers) but they all told me 'No,' as well."

She finally found a firm in the Kootenays that would provide her with 
a home insurance policy, but at a cost of $3,200. "It would be 
devastating to me if I have to pay that much," she said.

About 5,000 Canadians have licences to carry and use marijuana for 
medicinal reasons, and about 4,000 have licences to grow pot for their own use.

A spokesman for the Insurance Bureau of Canada says the organization 
fields a few calls every year from people with medical marijuana 
licences who are having trouble renewing their home coverage policy, 
or are facing big increases in their premiums. "Insurance is a 
competitive business, and having marijuana plants being grown in a 
house is seen by most, but not all providers as increasing a person's 
risk profile," Serge Corbeil said.

"When they're applying for insurance, people should stress all the 
mitigating steps they've taken to reduce that risk, such as having 
alarm systems, measures to control water consumption, and anything 
else they've done to make things safer," Corbeil said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom