S
skijem
Guest
Is anyone aware of any PA caselaw that allows an insured to file a preliminary injunction to stop their insurance company from failing to immediately provide temporary living expenses which are provided for under the policy when a home becomes uninhabitable due to toxins?
We had water damage to our house that saturated our drywall and carpet. Insurance company advised us to let the drywall "dry out" while the roof was repaired. They gave us money, acknowledging the storm damage, but then put in writing THREE times to use that money to repair the roof instead of the dryall. They verbally threatened to cancel our insurance if we did not repair the roof. We never did get water into our house again, after the storm, but mold began to grow on the drywall that the insurance company told us to let "dry out". In the meantime, our entire family, including two children, became very ill with such things as: chronic sinusitis, coughing, sneezing, conjunctivits, reactive airway disease, pounding headaches, shortness of breath, edema, memory loss, chronic fatigue, joint pain, dizziness, flu-like symtoms, nosebleeds, blood abnormalities, etc. Our children have missed a tremendous amount of school and we have missed an unacceptable amount of work due to illnesses. We later discovered that mold may be toxic. The insurance company, after a battle, agreed to reopen the claim and test the home for toxins but, when at the house, decided to instead limit testing to the area of water damage resulting in a delay in the search for safety information as to the entire home being toxic. They flat-out refused, after several requests, to test the HVAC system as well as other portions of the home. Their test samples came back positive, in the water-damaged portion of the home, for extremely high levels of mold and tragically we had the kinds that are lethal neurotoxins poisonous by inhalation and other toxins that cause cancer. These mycotoxins also suppress the immune system and attack the lymphoid tissue and bone marrow. These toxins are produced by certain molds when allowed to sit wet. The insurance company wrote a letter stating that coverage would be provided for the water damaged room but mentioned nothing about the rest of home that might be toxic. We requested temporary living expenses to move out of the house at that time. Insurance company refused but elected instead to put up a wall to block off the portion of the home that they tested and refused to test the rest of the house except for a simple sampling of a few rooms with a method that is known for producing false negative results. They told us to provide scientific information to prove that the toxins had spread throughout the home causing it to become uninhabitable. Because they refused whole house testing, we hired an independent firm that confirmed that the toxins had spread throughout our entire home, including our HVAC system, making it uninhabitable to the point where we need to vacate immediately and that it is dangerous to live in the home. Additionally, we cannot take anything with us and our home is non-marketable, the bank doesn't want it back either. Two months later, the insurance company is now asking us to permit further testing by their hired industrial hygienist after we were forced to spend our money (well over $3,000.00) for an expert opinion and report. This will cause another substantial delay resulting in no temporary living expenses while they further investigate something they already know exists. Also, after receiving the "scientific" report declaring the home to be uninhabitable, they now are requesting "scientific" medical data and medical records to prove that the home is uninhabitable before making a decision to provide living expenses. We already forwarded a report, from an eminent toxicologist, who stated that the home is not safe for anybody to occupy until it is remediated. We explained to them that medical records don't determine whether or not extremely high levels of toxins are in a home rendering it uninhabitable. They just keep ingnoring this and further request more information. Our toxicologist also stated, in his report, that he has never seen so many pathogens inside one home and that one extremely dangerous mold, in particular, is the highest in levels that he has ever seen in his 35 years of dealing with toxic materials. Also, he noted that it is evident that the toxins originated from the water damage drywall because of the extremely high levels in that room. Our family cannot afford to pay a high mortgage while concurrently paying rent. We have no family, locally, with whom we can reside. In the meantime, we are all being poisoned and am extremely worried about our family's current health status as well as future adverse affects from these toxins. (There is no guarantee that we will be well once we leave here or no guarantee that we won't get cancer in the future from this exposure). These fungal spores are the same mycotoxins used in biological warfare and questionably used during the yellow rain attacks during warfare which killed whole villages. This brings me back to my original question of injunctive relief. What do you think our chances are of winning a preliminary injunction? The insurance company 1)gave negligent advise (they were aware of toxic mold resulting from water damage and have had claims against them for this in the past) that led to toxic mold that led to our family's personal injuries and property damage. 2)Did not perform a proper investigation but instead tried to limit their testing to causation. 3)Failed to further investigate the entire home in a timely fashion. 4)Forced us to perform our own investigation and provide proof of loss. 5)Continues to not provide an answer as to living expenses. 6)Now wants to delay further while just beginning a full home investigation. We've had two separate companies do testing for us while our insurance company is still sitting back deciding how to properly test the home. In short, they are not being a good neighbor.
Any assistance or ideas would be greatly appreciated particulary with regards to any immediate relief. I know they have acted in bad faith and have violated numerous sections of the Unfair Settlement Practices, etc. but they don't seem to care and these violations don't seem to give them any incentive for speeding up the process. They are now unbelieveable saying that we refused to let them test the entire house (yeah, right)!
Thank you very much for any help. I'm so sorry this was not brief but it was to the point (there are just too many pertinent points)
We had water damage to our house that saturated our drywall and carpet. Insurance company advised us to let the drywall "dry out" while the roof was repaired. They gave us money, acknowledging the storm damage, but then put in writing THREE times to use that money to repair the roof instead of the dryall. They verbally threatened to cancel our insurance if we did not repair the roof. We never did get water into our house again, after the storm, but mold began to grow on the drywall that the insurance company told us to let "dry out". In the meantime, our entire family, including two children, became very ill with such things as: chronic sinusitis, coughing, sneezing, conjunctivits, reactive airway disease, pounding headaches, shortness of breath, edema, memory loss, chronic fatigue, joint pain, dizziness, flu-like symtoms, nosebleeds, blood abnormalities, etc. Our children have missed a tremendous amount of school and we have missed an unacceptable amount of work due to illnesses. We later discovered that mold may be toxic. The insurance company, after a battle, agreed to reopen the claim and test the home for toxins but, when at the house, decided to instead limit testing to the area of water damage resulting in a delay in the search for safety information as to the entire home being toxic. They flat-out refused, after several requests, to test the HVAC system as well as other portions of the home. Their test samples came back positive, in the water-damaged portion of the home, for extremely high levels of mold and tragically we had the kinds that are lethal neurotoxins poisonous by inhalation and other toxins that cause cancer. These mycotoxins also suppress the immune system and attack the lymphoid tissue and bone marrow. These toxins are produced by certain molds when allowed to sit wet. The insurance company wrote a letter stating that coverage would be provided for the water damaged room but mentioned nothing about the rest of home that might be toxic. We requested temporary living expenses to move out of the house at that time. Insurance company refused but elected instead to put up a wall to block off the portion of the home that they tested and refused to test the rest of the house except for a simple sampling of a few rooms with a method that is known for producing false negative results. They told us to provide scientific information to prove that the toxins had spread throughout the home causing it to become uninhabitable. Because they refused whole house testing, we hired an independent firm that confirmed that the toxins had spread throughout our entire home, including our HVAC system, making it uninhabitable to the point where we need to vacate immediately and that it is dangerous to live in the home. Additionally, we cannot take anything with us and our home is non-marketable, the bank doesn't want it back either. Two months later, the insurance company is now asking us to permit further testing by their hired industrial hygienist after we were forced to spend our money (well over $3,000.00) for an expert opinion and report. This will cause another substantial delay resulting in no temporary living expenses while they further investigate something they already know exists. Also, after receiving the "scientific" report declaring the home to be uninhabitable, they now are requesting "scientific" medical data and medical records to prove that the home is uninhabitable before making a decision to provide living expenses. We already forwarded a report, from an eminent toxicologist, who stated that the home is not safe for anybody to occupy until it is remediated. We explained to them that medical records don't determine whether or not extremely high levels of toxins are in a home rendering it uninhabitable. They just keep ingnoring this and further request more information. Our toxicologist also stated, in his report, that he has never seen so many pathogens inside one home and that one extremely dangerous mold, in particular, is the highest in levels that he has ever seen in his 35 years of dealing with toxic materials. Also, he noted that it is evident that the toxins originated from the water damage drywall because of the extremely high levels in that room. Our family cannot afford to pay a high mortgage while concurrently paying rent. We have no family, locally, with whom we can reside. In the meantime, we are all being poisoned and am extremely worried about our family's current health status as well as future adverse affects from these toxins. (There is no guarantee that we will be well once we leave here or no guarantee that we won't get cancer in the future from this exposure). These fungal spores are the same mycotoxins used in biological warfare and questionably used during the yellow rain attacks during warfare which killed whole villages. This brings me back to my original question of injunctive relief. What do you think our chances are of winning a preliminary injunction? The insurance company 1)gave negligent advise (they were aware of toxic mold resulting from water damage and have had claims against them for this in the past) that led to toxic mold that led to our family's personal injuries and property damage. 2)Did not perform a proper investigation but instead tried to limit their testing to causation. 3)Failed to further investigate the entire home in a timely fashion. 4)Forced us to perform our own investigation and provide proof of loss. 5)Continues to not provide an answer as to living expenses. 6)Now wants to delay further while just beginning a full home investigation. We've had two separate companies do testing for us while our insurance company is still sitting back deciding how to properly test the home. In short, they are not being a good neighbor.
Any assistance or ideas would be greatly appreciated particulary with regards to any immediate relief. I know they have acted in bad faith and have violated numerous sections of the Unfair Settlement Practices, etc. but they don't seem to care and these violations don't seem to give them any incentive for speeding up the process. They are now unbelieveable saying that we refused to let them test the entire house (yeah, right)!
Thank you very much for any help. I'm so sorry this was not brief but it was to the point (there are just too many pertinent points)