Ottawa (Rajeev Sharma): The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled in favour of Trillium Mutual Insurance Co. in a dispute over insurance coverage for an Ottawa-area family whose home was declared a total loss after severe flooding.
The case involved Stephen and Claudette Emond, whose house along the Ottawa River was destroyed during spring flooding in April 2019. Trillium Mutual acknowledged that the loss of the home was covered under the couple’s homeowners’ insurance policy.
However, a disagreement arose when the Emonds sought to rebuild. The dispute centred on whether the policy covered the added costs of construction work required to meet regulations imposed by the local conservation authority.
In 2022, the Ontario Superior Court ruled in favour of the Emonds, finding that the insurer should cover the additional compliance costs.
That decision was later overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which ruled that the policy limited reimbursement for compliance with bylaws or regulatory requirements to a maximum of $10,000.
In a decision released by the Supreme Court of Canada, the country’s top court upheld the appeal court ruling, concluding that the Emonds are not entitled to recover compliance-related rebuilding costs beyond the $10,000 limit set out in their insurance policy.
