Local mold hearing will be held Aug. 21

[Guest guest]

http://www.caller.com/2001/july/06/today/localnew/4553.html

Friday, July 6, 2001

Local mold hearing will be held Aug. 21

More than 500 people attended a hearing about mold coverage in Austin last

month

By Elder

Caller-Times

Mold hearing

What: Texas Department of Insurance hearing on mold coverage in homeowner

policies

Where: Warren Theatre, Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive

When: 10 a.m. Aug. 21

To comment: e-mail CommercialPC@..., fax to (512) 463-6607, or

mail to: Texas Department of Insurance, Homeowners Division (MC 104-1F),

P.O. Box 149104, Austin, TX 78714-9104.

On the Web: An audio recording of the Austin meeting is available at

www.tdi.state.tx.us/comish/audio.html

It reads like the plot of a comical science fiction movie. Toxic mold is

creeping through homes, universities and office buildings across the city.

People are fleeing. But no one is laughing.

The issue of mold is pitting property owners against insurance companies

in a multimillion dollar war and will be the topic of a Texas Department of

Insurance hearing to convene in Corpus Christi next month.

Insurance department officials have set an Aug. 21 date for the hearing,

which is expected to draw large crowds at the Warren Theatre at Texas A & M

University-Corpus Christi.

The Corpus Christi meeting follows last month's hearing in Austin, where

dozens of homeowners, some in tears, testified on coverage for mold-related

damage. More than 500 people attended the hearing.

Farmers Insurance Group filed a proposal that would exclude all coverage

of mold and fungi from standard homeowner policies, causing a need for

public hearings.

Insurance companies, facing mushrooming mold claims, contend that current

premiums don't cover the cost of cleaning up molds, toxic or otherwise.

Homeowners say they'll be stuck with cleanup costs that can run in the

hundreds of thousands of dollars if insurance companies are allowed to drop

the coverage.

Texas homeowner policies include coverage for a loss caused by mold or

other fungi, only if that loss is the direct result of a covered peril, such

as a burst pipe or plumbing problem.

" I have no doubt that people are going to respond to this hearing because

of the problems they are having, " said state Sen. Truan, D-Corpus

Christi, who last month urged Texas Insurance Commissioner Montemayor

to bring the hearing to Corpus Christi.

Dozens of local homeowners already have filed lawsuits against their

insurance companies, citing reluctance by insurers to pay for mold cleanup

costs.

While mold always has been around, its status as a health threat is

fairly new. Certain strains have been linked to asthma, allergic reaction

and respiratory ailments, among other health problems.

Impact on health unclear

But the medical community is still debating mold's impact on health. The

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say very few cases have

been reported where toxic molds inside homes have caused rare health

conditions such as pulmonary hemorrhage or memory loss.

So far, no federal standards have been set for acceptable levels of mold

indoors. The untrained eye can't distinguish between the nontoxic and toxic

strains, making it even more troublesome.

Some insurers say plaintiff's lawyers and the media are fanning the

hysteria.

" As more and more people become educated about the issue of mold, we will

see less hysteria, " said Jerry s, a spokesman for the Southwestern

Insurance Information Service, a trade group. " It's time to bring some

balance and education to this issue of mold, and people need not become

hysterical and panic stricken, because every type of mold does not produce

illness. "

What comes of the hearings - there's a third set for Houston - will have

a huge impact on the Coastal Bend area, officials say. Local Realtors,

attorneys and contractors estimate that hundreds of Corpus Christi-area

homeowners have been driven out of their homes because of mold contamination

, and hundreds more are expected to leave their homes because of the

problem.

Mold damage claims rise

Four years ago, mold damage claims in Texas were virtually nonexistent.

During the first six months of this year, Farmers Insurance received more

than 1,000 new mold claims in Texas.

The emotional Austin hearing prompted Montemayor to call for a study

before deciding whether insurance companies should be allowed to exclude

mold damage claims from homeowner policies. The study will likely take

several months to complete.

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Contact Elder at 886-3678 or elderl@...