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Ballard Bashes Insurance
Companies Over Mold There’s a web site with a message aimed at insurance companies: "Your worst nightmare has just become a reality. Your customers ain’t gonna take it anymore."
Melinda Ballard started www.policyholdersofamerica.com after becoming a national spokesperson on the subject of how insurance companies handle mold claims. Her name became synonymous with mold since a Texas jury awarded her family $32 million dollars for damages due to Farmer’s Insurance Company’s bad faith and fraud concerning mold found in her home. It was the highest mold-related damage award to date, and put "The Ballard Case" in the national spotlight. Melinda Ballard has since turned that light on the practices of insurers when it comes to mold. The Las Vegas Chapter of the American Indoor Air Quality Council featured Melinda Ballard at it’s September 26 meeting. Although associated with mold, Ballard was quick to point out that her case wasn’t really about that. "Our case wasn’t a mold case," she said. "It was a fraud case." In 1998, the Ballard family had a water leak in their home. They hired a contractor to do repairs, and said the contractor repaired the leak and brought in a pair of dehumidifiers to make sure everything was dried out before replacing the wall board. Six months later, the floor buckled. "The flooring contractor pulled up boards and saw water stains," Ballard said. "The insurance company sent in a plumber and concluded that there were no plumbing leaks. They said they would investigate and that we shouldn’t make repairs or risk losing coverage. Stupidly, we listened to them and didn’t make repairs." Ballard said there were some 13 leaks at that time, all of which continued because Farmer’s Insurance said there were no leaks and wouldn’t allow repairs. They repeatedly told their insurance company that their home was getting worse, Ballard said, and eventually they saw mold growing behind the refrigerator. Her son was three years old at the time and suffered severe respiratory problems and memory loss, as did her husband. The subsequent discovery that the home was contaminated with stachybotrys chartarum, the so-called "black mold," led to illness for the family, appeals to the insurance company for repairs, and eventually into the courtroom. At one point, the insurer admitted that the mold damage was a covered peril, yet refused to make or allow repairs. To Ballard, that went beyond bad faith and became fraud. "During the trial, Farmer’s admitted having committed bad faith, and said they would handle a similar situation the same way," Ballard said. "Every time they said that, I looked at the jury. They were writing it down." The insurance company appealed, and the Ballard family has yet to receive a penny. "We’re not promoting litigation, we’re promoting common sense approaches," Ballard said of the Policyholders of America web site. The site started in January of this year, and serves as a clearinghouse for mold-related information. Ballard is supporting Congressman John Conyers federal mold bill that would create a FEMA-like insurance pool to mitigate mold claims. House Bill 5040 would remove the liability of mold clean-up from insurance companies, and direct FEMA to include mold coverage much the same way it provides flood insurance. Clean Air Chapter President Rex Wilhoite, Air Filter Sales & Service, presented material about the technology of clean air. Wilhoite has been in the filter business 40 years, and has seen his industry move into the spotlight as indoor air issues became more and more of a concern.
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