[WSBARP] Insurance coverage for property damage question

[Teena Williams]

Hello Listmates,

I have a client who a fire, no liability on client. State Farm is their renter's insurance AND the building owner's property insurance. Only a rental claim has been made. During cleanup, State Farm recommended a remediation contactor which they used to pack out salvageable items. Ceiling on the home where explosion occurred caved in covering client's belongings in asbestos containing material. Remediation contractor was explicitly told not to try to salvage anything from that area and to throw it all in the garbage. Instead, they did $9K worth of remediation work and are going after my client. Client was told by State Farm not to pay the remediation contractor as it should be under the home owner's coverage instead. But Homeowner has not made a claim and is unreachable (shielded by an uncooperative management company).

Despite using the State Farm contractor and following direct orders from adjuster, State Farm has denied coverage since their coverage excludes property damage or any charges stemming from contaminants (including asbestos).

How do we get State Farm to pay the remediation company (or fight that they should never have done a remediation in the first place) without my client getting sent to collections?

As some of you may recall, I'm also a fire survivor. My client is reliant on doing what she was told to do, which is now coming back to bite her.

TIA.

Teena Williams
[Logo Color 946x243 pixels]
1800 Cooper Point RD SW NO. 8  |  Olympia, WA 98502
Telephone 360.352.1970  |  Fax 877.606.3656 |  www.jaglaw.net<http://www.jaglaw.net/>
Teena at jaglaw.net<mailto:Teena at jaglaw.net>
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