Home Ownership Insurance Blacklists

The fire insurance you purchased to protect your home and property in case of emergency will do just that — until fires occur. If you've had "a series of fires under unusual circumstances" or filed "a number of severe claims", you can become an unsavoury client and consequently ineligible for a homeowner's insurance policy. Your name is placed on an insurance high risk list — not quite the same as an underworld hit list, but equally deadly. Being blacklisted effectively eliminates your chances of getting any home insurance.

The business of home insurance is considered free enterprise and insurance companies have the right to refuse any type of coverage (with the exception of automobile insurance). Your name can be placed on the high risk list and circulated to all the insurance companies that operate in Canada — you're a "target".


Grounds for denial

Insurance companies pick and choose those people for whom they'll underwrite policies. Business is business, so they try to avoid people who've been convicted of arson or related crimes; who've had financial problems; or who've filed a number of severe claims or had a series of fires under unusual circumstances. Before any company agrees to underwrite a policy, it checks the high risk list. Your name and address can be placed there by the Insurance Bureau of Canada's Crime Investigation Section or by any insurance company with which you've dealt.




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May 20, 2012