Pierrefonds couple upset after insurance company demands refund following flood

A Montreal couple says their insurance company is demanding a refund for money given after a flood in their home.

In August of 2024, Peter Malko says eight inches of water flooded the basement of his Pierrefonds home.

“I rushed to start moving as much stuff as I could, but all the damage was done. I was just moving wet boxes, wet toys, wet furniture,” Malko said.

He eventually contacted his insurance company Beneva, who gave him an advance of $4,000. Malko also made a claim for lost items.“Everything that got damaged, furniture, toys, personal belongings, anything like that. We sent that in and started the process for them to calculate the claims.”

Beneva sent him more than $13,000.

Malko says the insurer also took care of hiring the contractor for renovation work. Once the job was done, Malko was relieved.

“This whole process was stressful enough as it was, when we finally got the basement done, it was just one anxiety off my mind,” Malko said.

That’s when he received another surprise. Malko says before closing his file, Beneva demanded a refund of $5,450.

In a statement, Beneva told CTV News, “Unfortunately, we don’t comment on individual claims. As a mutual insurance company, Beneva applies a fair and caring approach to all its members’ contracts. In the event of complaints, members have options.”

In an email explanation to Malko, Beneva says it assessed Malko’s losses at a total of $7,886.60.

The company paid Malko $13,336.60, which is why it’s asking for the difference of $5,450.

CTV contacted the Insurance Bureau of Canada and in a statement, the bureau said: “If, for some reason, the actual cost of repairs is less than the amount of the advance, it is reasonable to expect that the insurer will seek to recover the difference.”

The bureau says people should document their loss and seek an accurate estimate.

Malko insists he didn’t profit off the flood.

“I can’t make sense of it,” Malko said. “It wasn’t for me to figure out the numbers. We put our trust in [Beneva] to give us the proper amounts assessed, the damages and the claims. Basically, leave the grand total up to [Beneva] to calculate.”