Home Insurance

[Mr.Tortoise]

I finally got all my paper work signed and ready to mail into Health Canada and am all happy to start growing my medicine. However if I do so my insurance company will void my insurance policy. I can't find any company that will give me house insurance if I have a medical grow. So I either grow my medicine and loose my insurance and possible everything I own or I buy my medicine from the government, medicine that doesn't work well for me. I tried searching this topic on the forums with no luck. I have gone to many insurance brokers and have had no luck. Is everyone in Canada who is growing medically doing so without insurance? If this topic has been brought up before please link me to it. This situation is very frustrating.

Peace

 

[Canada]

why contact your insurance company over this? If your legit and you get a certified electrian why woudl it matter its all code. Its none of there business in my eyes but maybe contack legal advise 1st

 

[GMT]

If you get robbed, take down your grow before reporting it.

 

[VagPuncher]

I am insured.

 

[Mr.Tortoise]

You have to be very careful with insurance. Form the legal advice I have gotten if they don't know about it and something happens they can void and will void your insurance. I would be nice to think you would have time to ripe down your grow before insurance found out about it, but say my basement floods (which it did last year due to the ditches filling up which flooded my basement and killed my power no way I could have gotten my grow out as it would have been underwater) or the cops show up to my house being robbed and reports a medical grow etc. I would have to pay for the damage as my insurance would be void. I would have thought that what one does in ones home that is legal is none of their business, but apparently it is. I am waiting to hear back from an insurance broker that might be able to help or at least give me more information on how to proceed. Thanks for everyone posting I appreciate it. Stay safe.

 

[GMT]

well then what do you do about car insurance? you cant drive under the influence, and it stays testable in your bloodstream for quite some time.

 

[Snowberry]

Mr. Tortoise,

Insurance underwriters always include a disclaimer for not allowing repayment of replacements or repairs for illegal activities in your home. If all you H.C. paperwork is in order, you are legal, thus their disclaimer has no impact on you. If your home has been inspected and complies with your local building and fire codes and you have recent inspection certificates from your local authorities, there is absolutely no reason for denying you coverage whatsoever.

My advice, get the above cited paperwork, keep a copy in a safe deposit box, get a new insurance company and tell them nothing about your legal grow, it really is none of their business anyway.

Just be safe when loading your electrical circuits, as high intensity lights draw lots of power. You will burn yourself out of a house in no time being ignorant of the potential for disaster overloading your power supply. There is a reason the body count continually rises from this fact alone.

Best of luck and hope this helps, Snowberry

 

[Mr.Tortoise]

Thanks for the advice Snowberry. That is some level headed, rational thinking... I think the problem with insurance companies is just right away they think marijuana growing = grow up (hundreds of plants, major destruction to the home, illegal wiring, etc.) and is illegal, therefore no. They don't just stop and go okay if you are going to pursue this and something happens and only if something happens we will want copies of the grow area being inspected by a building inspector showing everything was up to code, ie. wiring, venting, lights, equipment and a copy of your permit verifying that you were in accordance with the law. If you can provide that then we will insure you no problem. I would pay even a little premium due to maybe a very small increased risk of damage due to theft. I could live with that argument. Then just like any other home renovation/modification if you can't provide proof of it being up to code or we find that you violated code/law we will deny your insurance. The whole point of code is to make the likely hood of fire, flood, mold, or any other structural damage very unlikely! That is the whole point of code!!! I don't know why all of a sudden for growing a certain legal plant species in my home code is no longer good enough. I have a call back from an insurance broker that I am going to talk to, see if I can do what your saying Snowberry. Then I am going to contact a lawyer and see what they have to say.

Thanks again for everyones comments... Really appreciate it. I like how the medical community is completely uninformed about one of the oldest, safest, medicines (one specialist warned me to be careful because it could kill me, my father has 8 specialist and none of them will recommend cannabis, even though he has cancer, no appetite, and is in constant chronic pain because they don't know if cannabis treats any of those symptoms!) and the hardest and most difficult to acquire. Sorry for the rant guess this is my forum for getting my frustration out.

Peace. Be Happy

OMT

 

[jarff]

I think if you do everything properly which includes the wiring being done by an electrician and an inspection form the local fire dept,and insurance inspector then it would be in their best interest to insure you...Insurance companies are in it for the money.
One problem that could arise is that a lot of ballasts both electronic and magnetic do not have a UL or CSA safety approval tag on them.I have seen the UL tag on some of the newer Lumatek 600 watt dual voltage ballasts but not all of them have the tag.
AF who runs a hydro shop inquired about ballasts from his suppliers and apparently they are available UL or CSA approved but at a higher cost.While on this subject it only stands to reason that ballasts can be approved by the fact that a lot of industrial bldgs.are running HID balasts and i,m sure they are approved for fire insurance.
jarff

 

[Bud Bug]

AF who runs a hydro shop inquired about ballasts from his suppliers and apparently they are available UL or CSA approved but at a higher cost.While on this subject it only stands to reason that ballasts can be approved by the fact that a lot of industrial bldgs.are running HID balasts and i,m sure they are approved for fire insurance.
jarff

With ballasts most like Advanced/Sylvania/Venture/etc.. will be CSA/ETL/cUS approved BUT if they are to be put into boxes the box itself will have to be CSA approved.

CSA/ETL approved ballasts in boxes are not really that much more expensive. Usually about $30-40 more per ballast kit which will include a Ballast/Box/Power Cable/Lamp Cord with octagon box and mogul socket already wired up.

One thing that is a gray area is the reflectors not too many on the marker that are CSA. The LR 1000's use to have CSA stickers but not anymore.