by fishrman » Tue Aug 05, 2014 05:27 pm
Single story home with attic that really only has access from a closet and through a port hole covered by a 2x2 foot piece of plywood. Insured wanted to sell home and during inspection. Inspector found mildew or mold in the attic on the underside of the sheathing. Do you believe an HO 3 policy would take care of this? To me, it was hidden from view but for others, they might not consider it hidden. Maybe I need to know the definition of hidden?? There is mold coverage on the policy with a limit of 10,000. appears the only thing holding up payment, in my view, would be the definition of hidden. Thanks.
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 03:05 am Post Subject:
Do you believe an HO 3 policy would take care of this?
Almost all HO policies now exclude mold as a covered loss. A new policy written on a dwelling with existing damage will NEVER cover it. However, if it is the current insured selling the home who has that coverage, the damage might not be excluded.Single story home with attic that really only has access from a closet and through a port hole covered by a 2x2 foot piece of plywood.
Arguably, since every home with an attic has access to that space, it would not be unreasonable for an insurance company to expect the homeowner to check that space once in a while -- especially in regions where mold is a pervasive problem.Here in the desert area known as Southern California, this is not a common problem (and for that reason, coverage is almost universally excluded in HO policies here -- has been for 6 or 8 years now), but in states such as Washington, Oregon, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, and a few others, it is much more common, and there would be a greater expectation of a homeowner to be aware of the possibility.
You don't mention where this is taking place, so there is no easy answer to your question.
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