A Curious Case: Was The Home Insurance Claim Actually Closed?

Think your client is satisfied with how you handled their claim? Better get that in writing.

Almost one year after sending a letter to B.C. homeowners confirming that their $232,000 home insurance claim had been closed, a B.C. insurance company learned indirectly that the homeowners were suing them over the very same claim.

The homeowners did not serve their civil suit on their insurer, Westland Insurance Company, until 10 months after the adjuster’s (unanswered) letter went out in April 2018; the letter was to confirm that all matters in the two-year-old claim had been resolved and the file was closed.

Assuming the 10-month silence meant that its clients were satisfied with how the claim was handled, the insurer found out about the homeowner’s civil lawsuit indirectly almost a year later, in February 2019, just two days before the civil lawsuit was served.

Filed in March 2018 (one month before the company’s adjuster sent out the letter confirming the claim was closed), the lawsuit also names the contractor who repaired the home.