It’s just weeks until recreational-use cannabis gets the green light in Canada. The burgeoning weed industry presents huge market opportunity and a brand-new risk landscape. It also has significant implications for the insurance industry.
Insurance Business caught up with Lars Rittmann, producer at ERB and ERB Insurance Brokers and speaker at the upcoming Cannabis Cover Masterclass in Toronto, to find out more about the potential impact of legalization, both in personal and commercial insurance lines.
“Some of the exclusions around growing cannabis in the home are now being removed from homeowners’ insurance policies. That’s a huge implication for homeowners,” said Rittmann. “In the past, I’ve spoken to homeowners that grow plants under a medical license and their big concern was always: ‘What if my house burns down and my claim is denied?’
“Following legalization on October 17, homeowners growing plants at home will no longer have to worry about a claim being denied because of that growing. As long as homeowners operate within the government’s framework – they can grow a maximum of four plants recreationally and more if approved under a medical license – they will be operating legally, which will make it harder for an insurer to deny a claim based on the grow going on in the home.”
In the commercial sector, Rittmann doesn’t expect legalization to cause too many problems. People have been legally taking high CBD products for pain management for some time and that has had no impact on the workplace, he commented. Cannabis for recreational purposes, like alcohol, is something that shouldn’t be used while working, but once again Rittmann doesn’t expect that to be a problem.
“Just because cannabis is becoming legal, I don’t think you’re going to see more people thinking ‘It’s legal now, so I’ll smoke a joint at lunch time and then go back to work’. I just don’t think you’re going to see any more use of cannabis in the workplace than historically there has always been,” he said.
Learn more about the key risks and coverage needs in the emerging cannabis industry by attending Insurance Business’s Cannabis Cover Masterclass Toronto 2018. On November 28, leading insurance influencers will discuss key perspectives on regulation, cannabis-specific risk, business growth and how these forces combine to shape the current and future insurance market.
