Insurance Companies Give False Hope to Consumers

Hartford, CT – Mold is a common plague of homes, especially after the seemingly limitless rain and flooding Northeast has seen lately. Insurance coverage of mold damage, though, is limited due to the severe health hazards that are involved with exposure. Among all major insurance companies, after profits are incurred, a much higher percentage of their budget is spent on litigation defense as opposed to shelling money out in claims.

Insurers began restricting mold coverage several years ago in homeowners’ and business insurance policies nationwide, after mold claims mushroomed (no pun intended) in Texas and some other Southern and Western states.

The Connecticut Insurance Department doesn’t allow home or commercial property policies to exclude or limit mold coverage for damage stemming from fire or lightning. However, the department actually allows insurers to limit coverage for mold damage, testing, and cleanup to $10,000, if the mold results from some other cause that the policy would normally cover. That could be, for instance, a tree damaging a roof and letting in rain that leads to mold, among many other common mold problems.

Unfortunately, the insurance companies have made mold as a subject to your regular deductible, and insurers aren’t permitted to set an additional one for mold. However, it does count against your C.L.U.E. Report, in fact, even calling your insurance company and inquiring about mold can put you on the same report.

Homeowners insurers aren’t allowed to exclude coverage for mold under the liability section of your policy, either. But they can limit it to $50,000. Unfortunately, this can be rare.

Commercial insurers can exclude or limit liability coverage for mold.Additionally, insurers define mold as including any kind of fungus, wet or dry rot, and bacteria. Ignorance may be ‘bliss’, but knowledge is power and may keep you out of the poorhouse.  Sadly, most Americans are ignorant about their insurance coverage until they have a claim, which often gives the public a false sense of security into thinking they have coverage for a multiplicity of things which have been cleverly eliminated by the insurance industry.  The profits from the insurance industry in 2004 were greater than the gross national debt.  This should give you something to think about at night, before you go to bed.  It is called false hope.

Author: Carolyn Willbanks