Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2009
Source: Richmond Review, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Black Press
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/P92NTYdG
Website: http://drugsense.org/url/WcGUPNub
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/704
Author: Martin van den Hemel

TOWNHOUSE OWNERS ON HOOK FOR BULK OF GROW-OP BILL

It was more bad news for the owners of Cranberry Lane townhouses in 
East Richmond last week when a B.C. Supreme Court Judge ruled their 
insurance company was not liable for the bulk of the $470,000 in 
marijuana grow-op damages caused to the complex.

In March of 2005, Richmond Mounties discovered grow-ops in a third of 
the complex's 90 townhomes after receiving a tip from an informant.

The owners of 29 units, including Carrington Properties Ltd., 
subsequently sued their insurance company, Commonwealth Insurance 
Company and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, after their 
claim was rejected.

The owners argued they should only have to pay a single $50,000 
deductible for the entire claim because the grow-ops were likely a 
coordinated effort, though investigators never found evidence of 
supporting this contention.

The insurance firm countered that its policy states that each unit 
damaged by the grow-op must pay the $50,000 deductible, which in most 
cases exceeded the damage sustained.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice J. Christopher Grauer did rule that the 
damage to nine units, which were identified to police by a single 
informant, constituted a single occurrence and was therefore subject 
to one deductible.

"In my view, it is improbable that the informant would have known of 
nine completely independent and unrelated grow ops. Accordingly, I 
find on a balance of probabilities that those nine grow-ops were 
connected by a co-ordinating enterprise, and that the losses arising 
from them are therefore attributable indirectly to one cause, and 
thus constitute a single occurrence," Grauer wrote in his ruling.

However, he found insufficient evidence linking the remaining 20 
units, and found that each were subject to the deductible of $50,000.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart