Don’t Miss The Boat On Your Insurable Interest

The Superior Court of Quebec recently rendered a decision¹ based on insurable interest in a case involving a sunken boat, a business man named Bonneau and a convicted drug smuggler known as Grenier.

Bonneau had entered into a finance agreement for the boat and had taken out a policy of insurance. Bonneau had been paying his insurance premiums and finance payments on the 2 year old Four Winns, model 358 Vista boat when it sank. Bonneau's insurer took the position that Grenier was the true owner of the boat and, as a result, Bonneau's policy was null and without effect ab initio for failing to have an insurable interest.

Bonneau's evidence was that he purchased the boat outright after trading in an older vessel belonging to his good friend Grenier. However, contradictory paperwork and some other curious facts led the court to conclude otherwise. The registration and warranty information were completed in Grenier's name, Grenier was alone on the boat when the coast