Re: Insurance Adjuster leaves us in black mold

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Dear Mary,

Excellent advice from Sharon. Hope you heed it.

Deborah

On 11/04/10, Sharon wrote:
> Dear Mary,
>
> RemDude's advice to two senior female tenants caught in a mold
> situation, is all wet. There appears to be a legitimate reason
> he does not post under his real name.
>
> Claims adjusters DO have responsibility to properly adjust
> their insureds' claims in a manner that no third party (that's
> you) is harmed by any bad faith claims handling practices by
> the employees of the insurer.
>
> Join Sickbuildings. People who use their real names when
> sharing information will help to point you in the right
> direction.
>
> Sharon Kramer
>
>
> On 11/04/10, Rem Dude wrote:
>> Yours is a common situation. Unfortunately, it is not the
>> responsibility of the insurance adjuster to test for mold or
>> even inform you that mold may be a problem. This
>> responsibility falls on the homeowner/tenant.
>>
>> To file a claim, you need to find a competent mold
>> investigator to document the cause, the extent of the mold
>> damage and the scope of work necessary to remove the mold.
>> Then, you file a claim with your insurer to cover the cost
>> of cleanup.
>>
>> Then, you will need two or more bids from mold remediation
>> contractors to perform the work as outlined by the
>> inspector. It is always a good idea to call the initial
>> investigator back after the work has been performed to
>> ensure everything was done properly.
>>
>> You may be able to find a mold investigator at IAQA.org
>> Make sure they are qualified (5 or more years in the
>> industry), have a clean BBB record, and are insured.
>>
>> Your challenge will be that the insurer already performed
>> cleanup on the mold. You will have to document that the
>> effort was not up to industry standards.
>>
>> RD
>>
>> On 11/03/10, Mary Jensen wrote:
>>> Sears sold two female senior citizens a water and ice
>>> maker frig 5 yrs ago. My mother now 87 yr old. The cheap
>>> plastic tube burst as they do. The cheap plastic is known
>>> to burst. Sears never informed us of the problem or told
>>> us to get copper pipes.
>>>
>>> The hose burst dumping over 1,000 gallons of water within
>>> 20 hrs. into the basement bedrooms. Farmers insurance
>>> adjusters did not inform us we now had a black mold
>>> growing as it took them 4 days to appraise. They cut a
>>> piece of carpet out of the 2nd flooded bedroom to anylyze.
>>> Told me they would pay for new carpet and pad. But they
>>> allowed $3.56 to remove moldy carpet, $3. for new carpet
>>> pad, $50. on carpeting. The black mold was growing right
>>> by the door. Never informed me. Could not find people to
>>> remove black mold carpet. Someone from Farmers called a
>>> disaster team. Told them I was to go into the mold room to
>>> remove contents as they had paid the property owner $60.00
>>> to do this. The same adjuster also paid $80. to launder
>>> clothes telling me to wash them for the property owner he
>>> lives out of town). I was already sick by this time. A
>>> handy man was helping me. He kept insisting moisture was
>>> behind the wall. Adjuster ignored him. Handy man came back
>>> with a meter after the adjusters left moisture was behind
>>> the wall. Everyone in the house got sick. Black mold is
>>> dangerous ifeel violated.