What’s pot going to do to home insurance?

In less than six weeks, Canadians will be legally able to grow recreational cannabis in their homes, as well as buy, use, and possess it. But how will their insurance be affected?

In a new survey from Ratehub, an overwhelming majority of homeowners (79%) say they don’t know if their home insurance policy would cover damages relating to growing cannabis with another 20% believing that it would not.

Renters are also confused about what their insurance – and landlords – may allow.

While 28% of renters think they should have the right to smoke and grow cannabis within their rental units, most landlords don’t believe their tenants should be able to smoke (62%) or grow (58%) within their units.

Further, more than half of landlords are unsure whether their insurance policies would cover smoking or growing cannabis.

Ratehub co-founder Alyssa Furtado is calling on insurers to be upfront with Canadians and go “above and beyond” in informing them about how insurance may be affected by the legalization of cannabis.

“Given they are responsible for defining changes within the industry, they need to be more transparent about how cannabis legalization may affect Canadians’ insurance,” she says.

 

 

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