Do you plan on inviting friends and family over during the holidays?

In addition to risking fines and personal liability if you decide to gather over the holidays, Ontario lawyer Nainesh Kotak recently shared with CTV’s Your Morning that Canadians could risk being sued – and your home insurance may not cover it.

"If you are doing something that is outside of the law or outside of the public health regulations or if you have an exclusion for communicable disease, there is a risk that if you are sued, your own insurance policy will not cover you."

The bottom line is, if you ignore public health and government orders, your home insurance policy might not cover the legal costs to defend the action, leaving homeowners with a lot of stress and debt.

According to an article in Canadian Underwriter, “the issue about personal liability for spreading COVID-19, and how a home insurance policy might respond, came up this fall in the context of parents wishing to set up “pandemic pods” for educating their children during the pandemic. A pandemic pod involves inviting a small group of children, or even a tutor or teacher — a pod — into the house to learn together.” 

Homeowners failed to understand that they would be taking on forms of liability that wouldn’t be insured. 

If possible, consider virtual get togethers this holiday season and avoid gatherings during the pandemic. In addition to helping limit the spread of COVID-19, you will also reduce your risk of personal liability should someone become infected.

If you have questions about your home insurance coverage, please contact OTC Insurance today to cover your home insurance needs in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island.