REGINA -- A Regina landlord is raising some concerns after he says his property insurance coverage changed without his knowledge.
Brian Albert has owned his rental house for more than 20 years. A few weeks ago, while his tenant was away for the night, he said someone broke into the house and damaged the water meter which then caused the basement to flood.
The flooding damaged his walls, furnace, washing machine, dryer and water heater.
“The water meter was there and they cut it off or broke it off,” Albert said. “I don’t know what they did, we couldn’t see anything. And the water was above the top of the pipe.”
Albert called his insurance company, SGI Canada, to submit a claim. Once in contact with the insurance company he found out he was not covered for vandalism insurance.
“When it was vacant we changed the coverage she said,” Albert said. “I said you changed my coverage without telling me? Well they should have sent you an email I said I didn’t know anything was different because I would have followed up on it, I said you just changed my coverage, how can you do that?”
Albert said his tenant recently moved into the house and before that, the property was vacant while he completed some work.
“Vandalism coverage is not available through SGI Canada for vacant properties,” Tyler McMurchy of SGI Canada said. “Now if their circumstances were to change, for example, if that vacant property was then to be rented, you could then be eligible for vandalism coverage but you would have to amend your policy that was in place for the previously vacant property.”
SGI Canada said it’s required by law to contact a customer before changes are made to a policy.
But for Albert, this whole incident has become very disheartening and he thinking about giving the house to the bank as quit claim because he cannot afford the cost of repairs.
“I’ve been paying insurance for 30 years, I’ve never missed a payment,” Albert said. “And then they do this to me.”
