Did you hear the story in the news recently about an Ontario woman who was having a bitter dispute with her husband, who subsequently set their bed on fire in an act of spite. The conflagration subsequently spread to the rest of the house and caused $160,000.00 in damages. The husband was charged with a arson and disregard for human life and sent to jail for a couple of years.. The woman made a claim on her insurance with Allstate in order to get the damages to the house repaired and was denied, based on the fact that the fire was deliberately set by one of the named insured on the policy. Apparently this isn't the only case of this situation occurring and it does seem unfair that a victim of a crime should be denied a claim just because the criminal was a spouse. Fortunately for those who live in B.C., Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, the courts or legislatures have enacted 'innocent co-insured laws', meaning the insurance company would face legal requirements to consider a claim separately from a spouse’s illegal and intentional actions.
Addendum...on the morning news Thursday May 4th...a story of an Alberta woman with a complaint about her insurance company on this exact topic. Her estranged husband got into her house and duct taped the overflow on the bathtub upstairs, then turned on the water and left it running. There was water damage to the home to the tune of $70,000.00 and the insurer agreed to pay her what amounted to her half of the settlement. No, not 100%, but at least a compromise, considering that in other provinces she would have received nothing.
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