B.C. Liberal MLA Todd Stone prods province on strata insurance
Credit to Author: Derrick Penner| Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 20:35:44 +0000
With stories mounting about British Columbia condo owners being hit with skyrocketing costs for their strata corporation insurance, opposition MLA Todd Stone prodded the province on Tuesday to take more immediate action on the issue.
Stone, B.C. Liberal MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson, introduced a private-members bill in the legislature to tweak a definition of strata unit under the Strata Property Amendment Act, require insurance companies give strata corporations renewal terms 30 days in advance and require owners of strata lots to have liability insurance.
Strata corporations “have seen their insurance costs go through the roof,” Stone said, which ends up being downloaded onto individual residents.
“It is imperative that we take action to best mitigate the impacts of this growing crisis before it gets any worse,” Stone said in a news release.
While private members bills seldom make it into law, the head of the Condominium Owners Association of B.C. welcomes the attention of Stone’s proposed legislation.
“Todd Stone bringing the proposed changes to the legislature for consideration will help raise the profile on the seriousness of this issue,” said association executive director Tony Gioventu.
Finance Minister Carole James, speaking during question period in the legislature, said the province is attempting to work with condo owners and the industry to find ways of mitigating the impact of rising costs, Stone isn’t happy with the time it is taking government to respond.
“In a full-fledged crisis, that simply isn’t good enough,” Stone said. “The bill that I have introduced today provides a series of initial actions to address this roblem that risks affecting hundreds of thousands of British Columbians.”
More to come