Bellevue family fights mold - -- - and insurance

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Bellevue family fights mold - -- - and insurance

2002-05-03

by Mark D. Baker

Journal Reporter

BELLEVUE -- When they gutted 's home, they broke the mold.

It was everywhere, they said. And it was toxic.

So everything had to go. The furniture. The clothes. Even the kitchen sink.

But more than three months later, Polly , 's mother, is wondering

if her insurance company will cover any of the costs, estimated at $123,000.

``How am I going to deal with this?'' said recently as she stood in

the middle of the home where her son, 45, used to live in the 800 block of

165th Avenue Northeast.

is mentally ill. He suffers from schizophrenia and has been living in

a hotel room since his home was cleaned out.

Hartford Financial Services Group was covering the hotel cost until a few

weeks ago, said. But the Connecticut-based insurer told in

March that it would cease any payments until it is finished investigating

her claim.

Hartford would not release any details of the case, saying only in a

statement that has been interviewed ``and we are awaiting

documentation that we asked for so that we can resolve this claim.''

's other son, who lives in California, has been helping his mother pay

for 's hotel room. , who suffers from a heart condition and had a

stroke last fall, said she doesn't have the means to care for , who has

a state caregiver and whose illness sometimes requires hospitalization. She

also lives in Bellevue, about three miles from her son's home.

was in the hospital in December when his mother discovered the

strange, watery brown substance all over the floors in the home.Cases of

toxic mold and disputes -- including lawsuits -- with insurance companies

over recouping the costs associated with the potentially lethal fungus have

popped up all over the country in recent years.

Just last month, entertainer Ed McMahon filed a $20 million lawsuit against

his insurance company alleging he was sickened by toxic mold that spread

through his Beverly Hills house after contractors cleaning up water damage

from a broken pipe botched the job.

Last year, Farmers Insurance Group lost a $32 million lawsuit filed by a

Texas family that claimed toxic mold in their home caused severe health

problems.

In Washington, toxic mold cases and related insurance problems have been few

and far between, said Mike Kriedler, Washington State Insurance

Commissioner.

``I keep hearing about toxic mold in schools, but we haven't had many

problems with homeowners' insurance policies,'' he said.

However, Kriedler's office has received 21 toxic-mold-related phone calls in

the past year, he said.

But if someone is having a problem with their insurance company, they should

call his office, Kriedler said.

``We recover millions of dollars for people,'' he said.

's problem started last summer when a pipe was discovered leaking in

the bathroom of her son's home. A plumber fixed the leak, said.

Everything was fine until the discovery in late December. No one had been in

the home for two weeks, said.

called Hartford, which sent an insurance adjuster out to the home,

she said. She was told not to go inside the home without wearing a

respirator. In January, an entourage came to her home. It included

representatives from Belfor, an insurance restoration and reconstruction

contractor, and Argus Pacific, a Seattle-based industrial hygiene company.

Argus said the substance was toxic mold. Belfor, recommended by Hartford,

did the clean-up work, said.

After receiving word from Hartford in March that the hotel payments would

stop and the claim would be investigated further, was called by

Hartford's attorney, Lane, , Spears & Lubersky of Seattle. She spent

several hours there on two occasions being interviewed.

Tim Graham, the attorney who questioned , did not return calls seeking

comment.

has hired an attorney who also declined to be interviewed.

, a health and environmental investigator with Public

Health -- Seattle & King County, said there are lots of different kinds of

toxic mold, the most common being stachybotrys.

``I have not seen any evidence that people have died of mold exposure or

become gravely ill,'' said , who often advises people to clean up

toxic mold, but not to move out of their homes or destroy all their

property.

Most molds can cause stuffy noses, headaches, coughs and irritations, but

not death, said.

said she does not know how she would pay for the work already done on

the home if her insurance does not cover it.

The bill for gutting the home is $45,000. It would cost about another

$35,000 to restore it. Throw in the lost contents of the home, and the total

bill comes to about $123,000, she said.

``You want to hear the real kicker?'' said last week. ``I just got my

renewal from Hartford yesterday. They haven't raised my rates.''

Mark Baker can be reached at mark.baker@... or 425-453-4248.

QUESTIONS?

If you think you might have a problem with toxic mold in your home, call

Public Health -- Seattle & King County at 206-205-4394. If you have a

question or are involved in a dispute with your insurance company, call the

Washington State Insurance Commission at 1-800-562-6900 or check its Web

site at www.insurance.wa.gov

CONSUMER PROTECTION HOUSES REPAIRS PHOTOS by Rick

Schweinhart/Journal:1)Polly stands in the living room of her disabled

son's Bellevue home. The house was found to be infected with toxic mold. She

is having to fight the insurance company to pay for it. 2) Polly 's

son's home in Bellevue was found to be infected with toxic mold. She is

having to fight the insurance company to pay for the repairs.