The Ontario Broker - April 2019 - 18

CONVERSATIONS
ON CANNABIS

A

lthough cannabis has been legal some time,
some stigma lingers around its usage. It
can be an awkward topic to bring up with
clients, but there'll be many instances where brokers
will be required to nonetheless. Myles Kuharski,
YBC President-Elect, is part of the YBC's cannabis
legalization working group and helped contribute to the
IBAO eLearning courses. Here he offers his insights
into addressing the issue.

of personalities that
we come across and
speaking on cannabis
is no different.
"Ultimately, the topic
must be approached in
a professional manner.
For any questions
related to cannabis or
if you have a reason to
believe that cannabis
can create an issue, it
needs to be addressed
and put forward
sooner rather than
later."

"From a broker perspective, any time a new coverage or
concern is implemented within our industry, there can
be difficulties adding the subject material in our regular
day-to-day conversations with clients. Considering that
recreational cannabis is still very much a new concept
within the insurance industry, and the country, it can
be hard to approach the subject regardless of questions
that need to be asked.

Like most things in insurance, the best tool a broker has
is their stellar customer service. Finding a natural way
into the topic and making the customer feel at ease can
make all the difference.

"We're starting to see cannabis related convictions
on the auto insurance side. Any time we see a major
or criminal conviction of any kind on an insured's
record, it can lead to difficult conversations. Now add
cannabis to that mix, I think it can drastically increase
the level of difficulty having to talk to insureds who
may have a cannabis-related conviction on their
driving record.

"If a broker can personally relate in any way to an
insured, it always helps with the conversation.
"Given the recent climate around auto insurance
in Ontario, having the why conversation with your
client is important. Distracted driving and minor
repair costs are a good place to start. From there you
can bring up the impact impaired driving can have on
a driving record, and the broader impact of criminal
convictions, similar to conversations about drinking
and driving.

"On the property side it's now a question on a property
application, so it needs to be asked - section 13, number
17 on a CSIO Habitational Insurance Application:
Number of Cannabis Plants Grown on Premises."
Knowing that it's going to come up more and more as
time goes on, brokers need to get comfortable with
asking these uncomfortable questions.

"In relation to property, again, it's a question on the
application and it has to be asked. You can use the
form as a prompt to discuss how the industry and even
society is changing.

"No matter what the topic, it's important to gauge
customers' expectations. I really feel that brokers know
their clients and I think that we would know when the
topic of cannabis is going to be an easy conversation
or an uncomfortable one. We're constantly having to
adapt our approach when speaking with the myriad

APRIL 2019

WE'RE
CONSTANTLY
HAVING TO
ADAPT OUR
APPROACH
WHEN SPEAKING
WITH THE
MYRIAD OF
PERSONALITIES
THAT WE COME
ACROSS AND
SPEAKING ON
CANNABIS IS NO
DIFFERENT.

Ultimately by responding in a professional and
courteous way, a broker should be able to avoid causing
offence to a client."

18

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The Ontario Broker - April 2019

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