Toxic mold pits family against insurer

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Toxic mold pits family against insurer

MetroWest Daily News - Framingham,MA

By J. Manuse/Daily News staff

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/homepage/x878455141

NATICK - and Zinck had a three-bedroom, two-bathroom

home on a quiet corner lot with a coy pond, a pool and patio bar in

their backyard, but they gave it all up last August - doctor's

orders.

The Zinck's actually still own the 2,100-square-foot home, including

the 7,000 square feet of toxic mold growing in it. They're still

paying their monthly mortgage payments on the home they bought 14

years ago. They still owe another $190,000.

But the Zincks, who have three children, have lived at seven

different places the last nine months, according to Zinck,

including seven months in a rental home with four bedrooms and two

bathrooms paid for by their insurance company.

They're not there now. The temporary living expenses covered by the

Zincks' insurance policy is up, and the Zincks are at a standstill

with the company, The Hanover Insurance Group of Worcester.

The Zincks' situation dates back to 2003, when an ice dam in their

gutters caused water infiltration into their roof. Hanover paid

about $3,000 to fix the damage at the time, and Zinck contends, did

not check the walls for moisture.

" For the next three years, we were living in a mold-infested house, "

Zinck said. " My wife was getting sicker and sicker, my son started

getting sick. "

After 18 months of medical testing to try to discover the cause of

her illness, Dr. LaCava of The Marino Center for Progressive

Health diagnosed Zinck with toxic mold poisoning and told the

family to leave the home. It was mid-August 2006.

Though their health insurance covered it, underwent $45,000

of medical treatment and still must avoid bread with yeast, pasta,

mushrooms, beer and wine.

" If I stayed in the house, I would have developed (multiple

sclerosis) and internal nerve damage, " Zinck said. " I had

numbness and tingling in my extremities. My brain was shaking, my

whole body was shaking. "

Companies who subsequently tested the home found large amounts of

stachybotrys, aspergillus/penicillium, chaetomium, basidiospores and

cladosporium. Engineers who inspected the house found insect

infestation was another cause, besides the ice dam, of water

infiltration and the subsequent toxic mold growth.

Now, the Zinks are asking for $300,000 to knock the house down and

rebuild it from scratch. They aren't willing to compromise.

" We will not put our family there if there is a chance the mold will

come back, " Zinck said. " This is not about greedy people

wanting a new home, it's about people's health. We were perfectly

happy there. This is our home. But the last year has been hell. "

The Hanover Insurance Group has since offered to give the Zincks

$127,000 to remediate the home and has hired two industrial

hygienists and three remediation contractors to give their opinion

of the situation, according to Buckley, a spokesman for the

company.

" All of them, they all came in with estimates of repair,

recommendations on how to repair the home, " Buckley said. " We based

our settlement offer on all that information. We also indicated to

the insured that any unseen items discovered during the

construction, we would consider associated costs and cover them. "

Buckley said what the Zincks are asking for is akin to someone

getting in a car accident that damaged the front end of their car,

the insurance company agreeing to pay to fix the front end of the

car and the car owner wanting a replacement car instead. He said if

insurance companies paid everyone with car damage to get a new car,

premiums would go up for everyone else.

" Remediation companies wouldn't be in business if they couldn't

repair mold, " he said. " Mold is a fairly common occurrence, and

remediation companies remediate mold every day. "

The Zincks also had a problem with the waiver each of the

remediation companies have asked them to sign.

One of the remediation companies, Enviro-Clean Inc. of field,

R.I., wrote in an estimate, " It is important to understand that mold

is ubiquitous and the goal of remediation is to bring the indoor

environment to an acceptable level. Should moisture be reintroduced

into the indoor environment, mold growth will likely reoccur. "

The company asks the Zincks to sign a contract that says, " ECI

cannot guarantee that mold will not return, and I do hearby forever

hold harmless Enviro-Clean Inc. "

Buckley said the language is standard for most contracts

and " everyone signs waivers all the time. "

The insurance company is so confident the mold problem can be

remediated, he said, that it just sent Zinck a letter Thursday

guaranteeing the mold remediation. The guarantee includes an offer

to pay for mold inspections before the Zincks move back in and every

six months after that for the next two years. The company also said

it would pay for additional repairs to the house.

" Hanover Insurance has been in business for over 160 years, we pay

200,000 claims a year, and we pay out to claimants about $1.5

billion a year, " Buckley said. " This is a company that is in

business to pay claims and to help people pay for loss. It's

inevitable you'll run into situations where someone is dissatisfied,

and unfortunately this is the case. "

Zinck contends, however, that Hanover was planning to cancel his

policy and only rescinded a " notice of nonrenewal of insurance "

after the family picketed outside the company's headquarters in

Worcester last week.

Buckley said the notice letter was sent " in error. "

Despite the company's latest offer, Zinck is still not willing to

bend, he said.

" The insurance company is going to guarantee something that the

remediation company won't guarantee - How does that work?, " he

said. " The remediation company won't guarantee it will work, and I

will not put my family at risk because the insurance company will

guarantee it will work. They're not in the business of remediating

mold. If they test it after six months and find it, we've been

living in it. "

Any mold exposure is a serious health risk to , he said.

Another option is the appraisal/arbitration process set up by the

state. Hanover has agreed to extend the Zincks' temporary living-

expenses coverage if they agree to the process, which involves an

uninvolved third-party arbitrator, according to Buckley.

The Zincks are living with friends and family, sleeping on air

mattresses on the floor.

( J. Manuse can be reached at amanuse@...