DIYbanter - View Single Post - OT - Insurers dropping Chinese drywall policies

DGDevin

wrote:

I feel bad for the owners but I am not sure this is really a problem
that is covered by your homeowner's insurance

A pal of mine who is a lawyer is currently representing a home owner who
bought home owner's insurance including a rider for water damage. Thanks to
a plumbing failure he ended up with fifty grand in water damage, but when he
filed a claim the insurance company said they don't write policies for water
damage so he wasn't covered. The home owner produced his policy with the
rider for water damage and his cancelled checks for his premium payments
which the company cashed. The insurance company said they don't insure
against water damage, and if somebody in the company mistakenly wrote a
policy covering water damage that was too bad, they weren't going to pay,
though they would refund the cost of the water damage rider.

So now he's going to have to sue, it's the only way to get the *******s'
attention, and it will take years and cost a fortune even if the homeowner
finally wins. The moral of this story is insurance companies will tell you
you're covered for what they say you're covered for, and if you don't like
it, sue them. In this drywall case some of the policies probably do exclude
construction flaws including materials, but maybe some of them don't--either
way it doesn't matter if an insurance company simply refuses to pay or
cancels coverage and counts on homeowners being unwilling to get into a long
court fight. These are close cousins of the swine who cancel a woman's
health insurance in the middle of chemotherapy for breast cancer on the
grounds that when she applied for the insurance she unreported her weight,
and while that had nothing to do with her getting cancer, it amounts to
misrepresentation so they're pulling the pin on her coverage.

If I were building a new house I'd insist the contract prohibit construction
materials from China; any contractor who wouldn't agree wouldn't get the
job.