Quebec homeowner blames plumber for losing his Intact policies - but court finds the real story involves his own conduct toward an adjuster.
A Court of Quebec judge has tossed out a small-claims lawsuit from a homeowner who tried to pin the cancellation of his Intact home and auto policies on a local plumbing company, ruling that the actual trigger was an incident on the homeowner's own property involving an insurance adjuster.
The decision in Therrien v. Plomberie Carignan, handed down on May 6, 2026, by Judge Denis Lapierre in the Small Claims Division at Cowansville, dismissed a claim brought by Daniel Therrien and Jocelyne Gauthier against Plomberie Carignan. The homeowners argued that the plumber, Jean-Yves Carignan, had wrongly sent an expert report on their drainage system to Intact Compagnie d'Assurance, and that the report had set off a chain of events ending with their policies being cancelled and their having to pay more for coverage elsewhere.
Carignan told the court a different story. He said the homeowner had hired him only for drain cleaning and a camera inspection. The full drainage expertise, he said, was commissioned separately by Intact later the same day during a phone call. He pointed to two distinct invoices - one to the homeowner for the cleaning and camera work, another to Intact for the expert assessment - along with a follow-up email from the insurer the next day.
Faced with two competing versions and documentation that fit either story, Judge Lapierre concluded the homeowners had not carried their burden of proof. But the judge went further. Even if sending the report had been a misstep, he said, it would not have caused the consequences the homeowners complained about.
The reason the policies were cancelled, the judge found, traced back to June 5, 2024. Carignan, who was at the property that day, testified that Therrien sharply criticized Mélissa Dancause, the Intact claims adjuster handling the file, then grabbed her by the arm and shoved her off the property. Therrien denied that any of it happened. The court preferred Carignan's account, noting it was backed up by a letter from Intact explaining its cancellation decision and by an email Dancause herself sent the very next day, on June 6, 2024.
Cancellation of the home and auto policies, along with the homeowners' insurance broker mandate, followed immediately.
The judge also noted that the underlying claim had been handled normally and the indemnities paid - including reimbursement for the plumber's initial invoice for the camera test that fed into the expert report.
The judge wrote that Therrien had "only himself to blame" for his loss, pointing to conduct Intact and its adjuster had every right to find unacceptable. The court added that neither the plumbing company nor its owner had any sway over an insurer's coverage decisions.
Therrien and Gauthier were ordered to pay Plomberie Carignan $374 in court fees. The warranty claim the plumber had filed against Intact was dismissed, without costs.
