One Homeowner's Story

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http://www.bayinsider.com/partners/ktvu/consumer/consumer_mold_health.html

DANGERS OF TOXIC MOLD: One Homeowner's Story

Tom Vacar for the KTVU Channel 2 News

3/1/02

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Single mother Connell left the Bay Area to raise her five children

in the rural peace and quiet of the Sierra Foothills near Auburn. But about

six weeks ago, her ten year-old-dream house sprang an invisible bathroom

leak.

" I did everything I could to dry things up and the water just kept

reappearing. "

When the plumber found the leak, he found something else.

Connell: " It was mold... black mold everywhere ... just underneath

the tub... and in the wall. "

Rick Wyatt did the repair: " I was sick for almost a month after I did this

job. "

Because it was toxic mold, Connell was advised to leave the house

immediately. So for six weeks now, she and her children have been living in

two rooms of the Auburn Holiday Inn.

Connell says although she immediately filed a claim, she's getting precious

little help from her homeowner's insurance company and two of its claims

adjusters.

" I'm having to pay for everything. I don't know what's going on... they're

just making me wait and wait and wait. Countless little things that we don't

notice, but when you have to replace them for a whole family... suddenly...

on the way to a hotel one night... it's devastating, financially. "

Connell says she hired her own public claims adjuster to press her claim,

because she doesn't trust the insurance company.

KTVU's repeated calls to the insurer, Petaluma Based Sutter Insurance, have

not been returned.

Connell: " It makes me... it makes me sad... because I know it may be

naive of me, but I really did think that that they cared. That any normal

person with normal feelings would warn a family with small children about

something like this. "

The owner's been advised not to allow herself or her family into the home,

but she simply doesn't know how bad it is. She does know that whenever she

enters, she has to wear clothing like this.

" And here we were... in this room, not knowing we were breathing this stuff

for those two weeks, or that it could be dangerous. "

Connell says her children have been suffering from bloody noses and flu-like

symptoms. An Auburn doctor says son needs to see a specialist

because he shows signs of a mold-based lung infection.

And that brings up another point -- health coverage.

Although Connell's family appears to be covered, allergist and immunologist

Marinkovich says he's beginning to see trouble with some health

insurers and toxic mold.

Dr. Marinkovich: " I was talking about one particular HMO, which I

won't name, which has consistently rejected all my appeals to try and cover

this for their patients. "

If you have water leaks in your house, don't wait to fix them.

Rick Wyatt/Plumber: " I say at least 85% [of the time], there's almost always

[mold] when you have leaks in walls and stuff... and sheet rock. "

Since there are still no scientifically established danger levels for mold

exposure, some home insurers say they shouldn't be forced to pay unproven

claims. In fact, sixty insurance companies have told the California Dept. of

Insurance that they want to severely limit mold coverage -- or not coverage

it at all.

_____

You can reach Dr. Marinkovich, who is well-versed in mold-related illness,

at 650-482-2800. He practices in Redwood City.