Michigan Court Hold Insurer Liable For Extra Contractual Mold Damage For Adjustor And Remediation Firm’s Negligence

In a departure from established Michigan law limiting insurers’ liability to their contractual obligations under their policies, a panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that a homeowners’ insurer may be held liable for tort damages independent of its contractual obligations under its policies where the adjuster and the remediation firm at the direction of the adjustor caused mold contamination or caused it to spread during the course of an investigation of the claim. In this case, a hole was opened in Plaintiff’s bedroom wall by the remediation contractor at the direction of the adjustor without following proper containment procedures, and this allegedly caused mold to escape and contaminate the entire home, cause their child to become ill and Plaintiffs to abandon their home.

Conant v State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, 2006 WL1411216 (Mich App 2006) is an unpublished decision and thus has limited precedential value, but can be used to convince other courts to apply the same reasoning.

Provizer & Phillips, P.C., is well qualified to assist you in the handling and defense of mold liability claims and coverage disputes over mold claims.

June 6, 2006