Re: claim on renters insurance question

[Guest guest]

Dear Folks,

Our condo's had water damage since 4/25/10 and the landlord's done 4 rounds or

repairs. They did too little too late. Anyway, I made a claim with my ins. co.

We are staying in temp housing now. The last air test was done on Friday for the

landlord who is saying it's fine to live there. The air is really bad in the

condo and all our fabrics and clothes smell like mildew that won't wash out. The

air hurts my chest. Landlord fulfilled letter of the law but condo is not

habitable. The were no VOC tests done. Only air tests were done in the

'remediated areas behind plastic containments.

Anyway, I'm wondering if I need to hire my own environmental person to document

the air quality for my insurance company. Has anyone been through this? Does the

ins co, on a rental policy, bring in an environmental person to do tests, or do

they just refer to the landlord's claim with his insur. co. for documentation?

I'm wifing from a friend's house on my laptop. I do have email on my cell phone.

If you have experience with ins co on making claim about apt or condo not being

habitable due to air quality, I'd like to hear about it. Plus what did you have

to go through for the ins. co. to pay for clothes and linens to be replaced?

Thank you!

Blessings,

Jocelyn

So. Cal.

[Guest guest]

Jocelyn,

This sounds so very familiar. I am sorry you are experiencing what is

considered the norm for " landlord " and management company repairs.

Unfortunately, it is very easy for them to find air testing companies that take

a few air samples, yet ignore the obvious. The EPA, as well as the Institute of

Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification and the American Industrial

Hygiene Association, list various criteria that must be met for post remediation

verification. One of the most important is the absence of mold type odors.

Others include verification of appropriate containment during work, absence of

visible dust in and around the remediation area, absence of visible mold, and

absence of water damage. If these criteria are met, various types of air

testing and/or settled dust sampling can be done. I caution against collection

of only a few spore trap samples, as this type of sample is prone to false

negatives if high background dust or particles remain in the air. If air

samples are collected, both spore trap and culturable should be collected.

The presence of mold odors indicates that the moisture source might not be

corrected or moldy building materials remain. I definitely recommend that you

retain your own consultant for testing and visual inspection. Testing should

not be done until visual criteria are satisfied.

Good Luck

Connie Morbach, M.S., CHMM, CIE

www.cleanlinest.com

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> Dear Folks,

> Our condo's had water damage since 4/25/10 and the landlord's done 4 rounds

or repairs. They did too little too late. Anyway, I made a claim with my ins.

co. We are staying in temp housing now. The last air test was done on Friday for

the landlord who is saying it's fine to live there. The air is really bad in

the condo and all our fabrics and clothes smell like mildew that won't wash out.

The air hurts my chest. Landlord fulfilled letter of the law but condo is not

habitable. The were no VOC tests done. Only air tests were done in the

'remediated areas behind plastic containments.

>

> Anyway, I'm wondering if I need to hire my own environmental person to

document the air quality for my insurance company. Has anyone been through this?

Does the ins co, on a rental policy, bring in an environmental person to do

tests, or do they just refer to the landlord's claim with his insur. co. for

documentation?

>

> I'm wifing from a friend's house on my laptop. I do have email on my cell

phone.

>

> If you have experience with ins co on making claim about apt or condo not

being habitable due to air quality, I'd like to hear about it. Plus what did

you have to go through for the ins. co. to pay for clothes and linens to be

replaced?

>

> Thank you!

> Blessings,

> Jocelyn

> So. Cal.

>

>

>

>

>