gets.primecure.net

Blog

  • Florida to begin testing Chinese Drywall homes

    As the Chinese Drywall saga continues, Florida has jumped all over the issue and is pushing for investigations while testing homes for dangerous sulfur levels. These actions come after a timeline of incidences, many of which may be read about on this blog’s section on the drywall, and demonstrate a level of seriousness taken by the government to protect citizens:

    The Florida Health Department said last week it would start testing air quality in homes built with defective Chinese drywall to determine if sulfur fumes emitted by the material pose any health hazard. Meanwhile, a state senator has asked Florida’s governor to set up a task force to take up the Chinese drywall issue.

    Fumes emitted from Chinese drywall produce a “rotten eggs” odor and cause metals, such as air conditioning coils, to corrode. The fumes have also been associated with respiratory and sinus problems in some residents. In some homes, the drywall problems have been so severe that families have had to move, and some builders have begun gutting and replacing drywall in the buildings.

    According to the Associated Press, the U.S. imported roughly 5 million square feet of drywall from China during the housing boom from 2004 to 2008. Estimates indicate the drywall may be in more than 100,000 homes, more than 35,000 in Florida alone. The Florida Health Department has so far received 265 complaints regarding the toxic drywall.

    The various health risks associated with exposure to Chinese drywall are not known to be limited, though various health symptoms are being reported and are listed here. If you feel you have been exposed to Chinese drywall or believe your home may have been built with these materials, contact your builder and a health expert immediately. After doing this, contact a legal expert who can help you navigate what course of action is necessary to help remedy this issue and make sure you are not left damaged.

  • Lawsuit against Army Corps in court today

    A notable news item for victims of Hurricane Katrina and those who keep an eye on hurricane litigation, today’s civil suit against the federal government for the failure of levees to protect inhabitants will bring national attention to this issue.

    NEW ORLEANS — A groundbreaking civil suit begins in federal court here today to consider claims by property owners that the Army Corps of Engineers amplified the destructive effects of Hurricane Katrina by building a poorly designed navigation channel adjacent to the city.

    The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a 76-mile-long channel known locally as MR-GO and pronounced “Mister Go,” was completed in 1968 and created a straight shot to the Gulf of Mexico from New Orleans. The suit claims that the channel was flawed in its design, construction, and operation, and that those flaws intensified the flood damage to the eastern parts of New Orleans and St. Bernard parish.

    If they win, the plaintiffs — a local newscaster, Norman Robinson, and five other people whose homes or businesses were destroyed by the 2005 storm — could pave the way for more than 400,000 other plaintiffs who have also filed claims against the government over Katrina’s destruction.

    We will be closely monitoring this case as it has widespread implications for future incidences in the region and for homeowners in the Gulf.

  • Texas Resident Loses Appeal While Representing Self

    In the midst of Hurricane Rita judgements and appeals, the Southeast Texas record recently profiled a woman who, albeit bravely, chose to represent herself in her appeal against her insurance company and paid the price. Mary Harmon, who felt her insurers, National Lloyds and the Kenneth Denby Insurance Agency, acted in bad faith when they denied her claim, went through the primary steps by herself but then chose to go it alone.

    A year after filing an appeal over her Hurricane Rita insurance lawsuit, Mary Harmon had never filed a brief, leading justices on Texas’ Ninth Court of Appeals to dismiss her case.

    In August 2006, Harmon filed a suit against National Lloyds Insurance and the Kenneth Denby Insurance Agency in Jefferson County District Court, alleging the two insurers stiffed her on her Hurricane Rita policy claim.

    According to her suit, Harmon purchased a National Lloyds home insurance policy through Denby on May 1, 2005. She alleges the defendants never informed her that her policy excluded windstorm damage.

    While Harmon was right to hire an attorney, policyholders need to remain vigilant and allow the legal process to develop instead of moving on if there is a snag. Regardless, this case demonstrates a frequent blame game that occurs in regards to storm damage and the wind versus flood debate, as does the lack of consistent explanation from agents on coverage. Getting acquainted with your policy while at the same time making sure to immediately contact a legal professional in the event a claim is denied or undervalued is a must for residents of the Gulf Coast area.

    If you need legal counsel, contact the Berniard Law Firm. Specializing in insurance appeals and disputes, our attorneys will work hard to make sure you get the money you deserve.

  • NYT article highlights insurance companies reluctance to advance coverage

    A recent New York Times article helps highlight just how far behind insurance companies are to innovations of modernity and innovation. Highlighting the cases of several cancer patients who were forced to go out-of-pocket to receive convenient oral treatments rather than in-house intravenous, etc., care, the NYT highlights how insurance companies rely on redtape and a lack of federal demand to innovate to demonstrate how the average citizen who, until they fall into crisis, believe they are fully covered suddenly are required to provide their own money for reasonable remedy:

    Pills and capsules are the new wave in cancer treatment, expected to account for 25 percent of all cancer medicines in a few years, up from less than 10 percent now.

    The oral drugs can free patients from frequent trips to a clinic to be hooked to an intravenous line for hours. Fewer visits might save the health system money as well as time. And the pills are a step toward making cancer a manageable chronic condition, like diabetes.

    But for many patients, exchanging an I.V. bag for a pill is a lopsided trade because the economics and practice of cancer medicine have not caught up with the convenience of oral drugs.

    Too often individuals appealing to their insurance company for help when necessary are finding that there is little to no interest on the part of these companies to modernize or “go the extra step” to provide the care they should provide. Through governmental complacence and a lack of oversight to the processes occurring in coverage, insurance companies have consistently red flagged and prevented proper restitution or remedy to claimants who have a full right to proper care. This practice extends beyond pharmaceuticals and the healthcare industry and into various other insurance industries, including property and homeowners.

    By refusing to accept low-end bargaining from insurance companies and seeking legal advise on the rights provided by the contractual arrangement between policy holder and provider, citizens can protect themselves from needing to pay out-of-pocket for the results they deserve. While necessary governmental oversight over the insurance companies may be too far into the future to rely upon, everyday people can make sure that, should a form of tragedy befall on them that they believe their insurance provider is bound to provide, they have the legal support they deserve.

  • NYT 9/11 Report Shows Lawsuits Can Help Get More Compensation.

    Per The New York Times, “After the 9/11 terror attacks, thousands of people faced a weighty and uncomfortable decision. Congress had created a special fund to compensate survivors and victims’ families, but said that those who received compensation from it could not sue airlines or airport security firms, among other entities.”

    While many families who lost a loved on in the attacks “sought compensation from the fund” a “new court report suggests that the small minority who went their own way and sued made out better financially: 93 of the 96 claims have been settled, for an average of $5 million, or more than twice the average payment from the special fund.”

    This correlation can be found now in settlement struggles between people still fighting with their insurance companies with Ike and Gustav hurricane claims who did it without legal assistance. Insurance companies very often “lowball” or under-appreciate the value of homes and property damaged in incidences. With legal assistance, experts and courtroom litigants, individuals run a much better chance of receiving higher compensation. While, in this case, it was the government pressuring settlement, insurance companies have a proven trackrecord of manipulating and exerting pressure on their clients to accept their offers rather than pursue legal assistance. However, in the event your property or home is damaged under insured events, seek a legal expert who can get you the financial settlement you deserve.

  • Chinese Drywall discovered in homes post-Katrina

    The inevitable results of the importation of faulty Chinese drywall into a state that required heavy construction at the result of Hurricane Katrina has officially emerged. As reported widely by the Associate Press and other media outlets, Louisiana officials feared that Katrina’s devastation had severely raised the odds that Chinese drywall would be a painful reality for individuals who had rebuilt since 2005. Now personal accounts are emerging that show this drywall issue is not limited to Florida but, rather, is officially here:

    Hurricane Katrina victims who used cheap Chinese-made dry wall to rebuild their homes may have to rebuild all over again to correct severe problems.
    Wallboard from China that contains sulfur is wreaking havoc in homes, charring electrical wires, eating away at jewelry and possibly even sickening families.
    “The bathroom upstairs has a corroded showerhead; the door hinges are rusting out,” said 50-year-old Thomas Stone, the longtime fire chief of St. Bernard Parish, southeast of New Orleans.
    Then there’s the stench, like rotten eggs, that seems to get worse with the heat and humidity.
    “It makes me wish there would be another flood to wash it out,” said Stone’s wife, Lauren, 49.

    It is important for homeowners who have rebuilt or fully constructed a home or property in the past five years to contact their builder and find out what materials were used in the development. If any health issues or structural damage is emerging since the home was built, contact a health expert immediately and then consult with a legal expert to find out what course of action may be taken to make sure that this faulty product issue does not become your new, costly issue.

  • 2008 Tax Break Reminders

    2008 tax reminder from KATC –

    Louisiana homeowners have several ways to save money on their 2008 taxes.

    State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is reminding homeowners that they can get a tax rebate if they were charged a Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. assessment last year. Some homeowners are eligible even if they don’t owe taxes.

    Another state tax break is a refundable credit to offset individual income tax. The rebate is for 7 percent of the premiums paid by individuals on their primary residence on homeowners, condo owners or tenant homeowners insurance.

    A Citizens assessment must be subtracted from the total premium paid before the 7 percent credit rate, Donelon’s office said.

    Information about state tax breaks is at the insurance department’s Web site: http://www.ldi.state.la.us.

    A federal tax break applies to some homeowners who had hurricane damage last year. That compensation goes toward deductibles paid on damages from Hurricane Gustav or Ike.

    Make sure to claim every tax rebate you can and make sure your insurance coverage is at the level you need it to be.

  • Lawmakers meeting with homeowners over Chinese Drywall

    Two of Florida’s elected representatives met with homeowners to discuss the federal government’s interest and action regarding Chinese drywall. The drywall, imported and said to cause corrosion and a myriad of health problems, has been discovered in homes all around the Gulf Coast region and appears to be a problem that is not going away:

    Two Florida lawmakers met with homeowners yesterday in West Palm Beach to discuss the state’s Chinese drywall problems. Attendees told Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., that they were most concerned about health problems posed by the sulfur fumes the drywall is emitting.

    The Florida Health Department has received over 150 complaints of Chinese drywall that emits a “rotten eggs” odor and causes metals, such as air conditioning coils, to corrode. In some homes, the drywall problems have been so severe that families have had to move, and some builders have begun gutting and replacing drywall in the buildings. It is estimated that the defective material could have been used in as many as 36,000 homes in the state.

    Both Nelson and Wexler have sponsored legislation calling for a recall of Chinese drywall, as well as further testing and a ban on the product. Nelson has also called for the resignation of the head of the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to step down because of the agency’s slow response to the drywall issue.

    The problem is not limited to Florida, however, as estimates tie Chinese Drywall to as many as 7,000 homes in Louisiana though, when all is said and done, it may be more. This seems almost certain as preliminary numbers of how many houses built with the material have skyrocketed to 100,000. It is important for residents who have had renovations or have had their homes built in the past five years to contact their builders and find out what material was used. If they are suffering from any of the health symptoms associated with Chinese Drywall exposure, it is important for these homeowners to contact a medical professional immediately and then consult legal counsel to be informed on their rights.

  • Associated Press Video On Chinese Drywall

    Video published by the Associated Press on the Chinese Drywall issue facing much of the Gulf Coast area.


    The more and more information that comes out on this stuff the worse it looks. The health effects of Chinese Drywall and the damage it is causing new homes, including corroded fixtures and structural harm, is stunning really.

  • Insurance Companies Delaying Rebuilding Efforts

    A recent article by Houston’s Chronicle highlights the delays being faced by Texas property owners in the wake of Hurricane Ike. Not surprisingly, almost all involve insurance company delays:

    LIST OF COMPLAINTS
    Top five reasons Texas homeowners have lodged Ike-related complaints against the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, as of March 12, and the number of complaints.

  • Delays (claims handling) 607
  • Unsatisfactory settlement 373 or offer
  • Denial of claim 281
  • TWIA appeal 262
  • Customer service 107

    • Source: Texas Department of Insurance

    The problem many people are facing regarding this issue is that bureaucracy and insurance companies’ unpublicized policies regarding automatic claim refusals or cap limits impede good faith claim efforts. Without proper legal support from a practiced attorney, many of these Texans will face difficulties seeing more, or any, money in the near future.

    The article continues and outlines the problem that far too many homeowners faced in the wake of hurricanes in the Gulf Coast like Katrina. The insurance companies often rely upon analyses that focus entirely upon flood damage instead of wind damage, etcetera. This works to undermine claims made by policy holders that are made in good faith.

    Hurricane Ike razed Joni Harding’s home and two rental properties six months ago today.

    Since then she’s been able to pool enough money from her three flood insurance policies and savings to rebuild her primary residence, but she is still waiting for a settlement offer from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association on two of her properties, including her home.

    Harding is among thousands of so-called slabbers, mostly from Bolivar Peninsula, still waiting on the state-sponsored company to make an offer. And many of those who have checks say they’re not enough.

    As far as legalities, it is important, again, for policyholders to hire an attorney to go through the complexities of their policy and find out their best course of action to get the money they deserve. Attorneys like those at the Berniard Law Firm utilize construction experts to make sure claims are on mark and that present day values are used to make sure that the claim they put forth is the best.