Hurricane season is rapidly approaching and now would be a good time to pull out your homeowner’s insurance documents and review your property damage coverage. Insurance companies have a habit of writing policies that do not provide full coverage for some fairly common causes of damages. For example, a homeowners policy may state that you are covered for the damage caused by a hurricane’s high winds, but fail to cover you for the water damage that occurred. You may be covered for water damage and not wind damage. While providing selective coverage for certain types of events has been company practice for quite some time, only recently have homeowners become aware of another, and potentially more serious property damage problem that wind and water can cause, that of toxic mold.
Your homeowner’s policy may not cover you for the removal of toxic mold that may result from water seeping into the ceiling, walls, carpets and between and underneath floorboards. Health repercussions that alert you of a mold problem may not show up for weeks or months after a storm. Most homeowners that have toxic mold infestation only feel the allergy-like symptoms of toxic mold poisoning much later, maybe weeks or months. This gap in time makes it challenging to prove a cause and effect relationship exists between the water damage occurring and the onset of your toxic mold poisoning. This is one of the reasons why you’ll need to have a knowledgeable Ft. Lauderdale property damage attorney in your corner, one who has experience and has successfully litigated Florida property damage claims including those relating to toxic mold infestation.
If your home is infested with toxic mold, one of the first things that you may experience are allergy-like symptoms such as sneezing, coughing and itchy, watery eyes. If such symptoms present themselves after a rain or wind weather event, you should call a Florida Mold inspector immediately, one who is an independent inspector and does not also provide mold removal. This way you’ll get an independent analysis of your situation. If a toxic mold problem does indeed exist we recommend that you take care of the problem immediately so that you and your family have a safe place to live.
In the meantime, call the Maus Law Firm to discuss your situation. We can help you to sue your homeowner’s insurance company if they fail to pay your property damage claim in full.