Two of Interior/Exterior Building Supply’s insurers, Arch Insurance Co. and Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., will allow up to $8 million of their insurance policies to compensate homeowners with defective Chinese drywall.
Patrick Ryan of Carrollton, VA and Bill Ryan of Hampton, have decided to fix their toxic Chinese drywall home themselves.
Newport News, VA Chinese drywall town hall meeting with CPSC representatives still left homeowners, and now renters, with no answers to their questions concerning water safety, health problems, foreclosure.
Senator Julie Quinn of Louisiana proposed a bill that was approved today by the La. Senate Insurance Committee, and will now be sent to the full Senate for consideration. The New York Times reported that the bill “would bar property insurers from canceling, refusing to renew, or increasing premiums or deductibles because of Chinese drywall at a property”.
Foul smelling odors and devastating corrosion; two common problems associated with Chinese drywall. As the issue has progressed and developed over the previous several years (recall, defective Chinese drywall was most widely distributed in the mid 2000’s), tangential problems are arising like insurance policy denials and a lack of cooperation on the part of financial entities.
The issue seems to be one of exclusions – what is or isn’t covered under an applicable insurance policy contract? Of course, the answer depends on the contract in question and will vary from consumer to consumer, circumstance to circumstance. The issue being exclusions, however, has been raised by some companies as being applicable to Chinese drywall by way of labeling the presence of it as “pollution” – courts however, require for the exclusion to apply it must be narrowly construed to “traditional environmental damage.” How then, can Chinese drywall be considered to be excepted by a “pollution exclusion theory” when the term “traditional environmental damage” seems to suggest something occurring either naturally and/or externally, bearing some relationship to the “environment.”
A Florida couple was recently rebuked by their insurance company, Citizens Insurance Corporation, when they were told their policy would not be renewed due to the Chinese drywall in the home. Fortunately, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has shifted its approach to the situation, and is now agreeing to cover the retirement home at issue.
To avoid the risk of further damages caused by Chinese drywall some insurance companies, such as Universal Insurance and Citizens Property Insurance, have chosen to cancel policies.
The dynamics of the program entail structured commercial liability insurance encompassing pollution, professional, and general liability. Brandon Beane, CEO of Beane & Bennett, commented on the current need homeowners are harboring, which in turn is leading to an increased demand for “remediation.” The opportunity is fresh, as is the need.
In this day and age, judging a house by its exterior is akin to judging a book by its cover. Pristine on the outside, James City resident Bill Morgan recently discovered contaminated Chinese drywall as the source of his worst nightmares – foul smelling odors, the inexplicable corrosion of his household appliances, and the mystery of his wife’s jewelry literally developing a black residue.
