Insurance Companies
Resist Paying Mold Insurance
Mold-Related Lawsuits Rising.
By Tracy Davidson
NBC 10 Consumer Reporter
www.NBC10.com
Many insurance
companies are calling mold the new asbestos.
Thousands of
insurance claims have poured in across the country seeking damages from mold
and now insurance companies are fighting back, saying the suits are based on
junk science.
For civil litigation
attorneys, mold is gold. Since 1999, mold-related lawsuits against building
contractors, insurance companies, hotels, schools and airports have
increased by 300 percent, and 10,000 suits are pending nationwide.
"It's our conclusion
that the current literature does not provide any reason to believe that in
the indoor environment one could or would inhale a toxic dose of microtoxins,
[or mycotoxins ]" said Brian Hardin of Globaltox Inc., a consulting company
on toxic environmental hazards.
In 2001, a Texas jury
awarded $32 million in damages to a family that claimed severe illness from
exposure to toxic mold in their home. That opened a floodgate of litigation
in places like Texas and Florida.
"The mold claims have
driven up the cost of construction. They've driven up in terms of the
inability to obtain insurance coverage," said Anita Drummond, of the
Associated Builders and Contractors.
"Something like mold
can have a dramatic impact on homes being built and the resale market. If
you own a home and for some reason you've been there 15 or 20 years and you
had a small leak you didn't know about and you have mold in your home that's
been discovered, you can't sell your home. That does not do anything to help
individuals, nor does it do anything to stimulate the economy -- quite the
opposite," said Rep. Gary Miller, from California.
Mold plaintiffs and
mold lawyers say the insurance industry is trying to shirk its
responsibility to mold-stricken policyholders.
"They need to abide
by their end of the deal. The people that pay their premiums, the insurance
companies take it, yet when they take the money they don't want to pay on
valid claims. Mold claims, the right mold claims, are, in fact, real. People
do get sick from them and the insurance companies just don't want to pay.
That is really the problem," said Robert Steiberg, an attorney.
Experts say mold
thrives in new, well-insulated houses that trap heat and moisture. Right now
there is an entire nationwide mold remediation industry devoted to ferreting
out the fungus.
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