Chinese Drywall: Insurers Dropping Coverage For Thousands Of Homeowners

Wall Street Journal:

At least two home insurers in Florida have begun dropping policyholders who filed claims for property damage linked to drywall imported from China.

Disputes with insurance companies are increasing as a growing number of homeowners file claims for property damage they say is caused by defective Chinese drywall. Insurers are fighting the claims and in some instances using the information in them to drop the policies.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[Joshua Sophy]

02:13 PM on 11/06/2009

People with Chinese drywall manufactured by Knauf Plasterboard Co. have until Dec. 2 to join a lawsuit against the company. Rather than go through a lengthy legal process, join this lawsuit very easily. The following Web site will give you everything you need and help you file a claim and get some closure on this difficult and costly time: http://www.Chinese-drywall-answers.com

[Joshua Sophy]

01:11 PM on 10/19/2009

Defective and toxic drywall manufactured in and imported from China has forced thousands of Americans to leave their new homes. It has caused skin irritations and trouble breathing.

As more time passes, more homes are being tested and eventually gutted of this serious health concern. No home is safer than another. If you live in new home, it is possible it was constructed using this inferior and dangerous product.

New homes in Louisiana and Nevada to multi-million-dollar condos in Florida, where the problem started, are included. If you've been affected, or know someone who has or may be, please read this Web site for a complete dossier on the subject:http://chinesedrywall.org/

[cdestef142us]

09:37 PM on 10/15/2009

Maybe the goverment should be more dilligent on what they allow into the country. I think the fact that they allowed an absurd amount of this material in the country and be used by thousands of home builders makes them responsible at some level. Just one more thing where everybody made a buck and the middle class ends up SOL and out of their homes with no recourse. Maybe since the Insurance companies technically will not insure homes that have been built with Chinese drywall, they should refund all the homeowners payments from the inception of the policy since technically they were really null and void policies from the get go anyway?

[thepoliticalcat]

12:59 AM on 10/16/2009

If you'll think back, you'll realize the Bouche cabal was in charge of the country when these things began happening. That was around the time we discovered deadly melamine in our pet food, tainted heparin, lead-contaminated toys, and the like. The heads of the organizations appointed to oversee our nation's health and welfare were arguing for LESS funding for their activities, even as the deBouchers exported our jobs by the pallet-load to other countries. Laxness in regulation was the order of the day. Rue the day you voted for that man, people. Eight long years of damage, and now President Obama is supposed to fix all this and the military, two wars, and the economy in ten months flat. It is to laugh. The bitter laughter of those who see the damage done.

[SimJack]

12:06 PM on 10/15/2009

Sure sounds like a class suit could be put together and the actionable parties are all of the following: insurance companies/agent that sold an inadequate product, realtors, builders/developers and dry wall suppliers/manufacturers. Lawyer up, throw 'em all in the same pot and turn up the heat.

[Stock market]

10:39 AM on 10/15/2009

The wealth gap will widen to levels never before imagined while the middle class ceases. Our politicians need to do more to ensure equality.

good articles; http://bit.ly/1NkbAn

A person making 60,000 pays 20,000 of it in various taxes. A person making a million or more has a tax rate of 30% compared to 90% decades ago.

[FreedomCorpse]

07:26 AM on 10/15/2009

The chinese made drywall is likely made out of the same stuff parents feed their kids with from walmart

[mamacat]

05:53 AM on 10/15/2009

First we ship our factories overseas, then we ship defective products back over here. The Chinese could have made plenty of profit without trying to poison us.

[mike72]

03:11 AM on 10/16/2009

That is invalid statement.

The root cause is the greedy capatialists who engineered the outsourcing of jobs from US to any third world country (not just China but it is the biggest destination due to its massive work force and lax regulation) to squeeze more profit out of business. The US government is in bed with these financiers and turn away on Quality Control regarding imported goods. In the process, the quality is sacrificed, along with the jobs.

China is suffering big time right now with massive pollution, let alone worker abuses. It is ironic that the best friend of the Capitalists are actually the Communist dictators. At the end, the people in both US and China got the raw deals.

[rbchilds]

04:14 AM on 10/15/2009

What is the message here? A state created insurance company not paying claims.................

[marijam]

05:09 AM on 10/15/2009

At least two home insurers...where are you getting "state created"?

[insideoutgraphics]

07:57 AM on 10/15/2009

Citizens Property Insurance Corp., is a state-created, nonprofit corporation. I believe it was created as a response to the pull out of private ins. sector after Hurricane's Andrew , Charlie,Ivan and Francis. CPIC also is used in LA. It's a catastrophic Ins plan. It's a response to the reluctance of private insurance co. to cover those in in high-risk areas.

[insideoutgraphics]

08:17 AM on 10/15/2009

There is a method that state INS CO's use. If they fail to hold an adequate amount of money for payout, they invest, (using premiums received) in off shore co.'s to make up the difference, by using off shore reinsurance companies. And though the State Ins. Co's are regulated, the off shore one's are not. Those off shore co's fees are enormous and if there is a payout by the state run ins. progs. they then feel the need to increase their premiums to offset their losses from the off shore reinsurance corps. So ins. co's get ins. on their own company, and if there are no storms etc, premiums remain the same, but if there is a catasrophe, the ins. co's loose available cash to homeowners and the off shore reinsurance co's. I think that's how it works.I could be off a bit on this. But it is convoluted.

[rbchilds]

08:43 AM on 10/15/2009

Thanks, sounds as if they are using risk management, i.e. Hedge fund/Derivatives. Look where that has taken us in the financial sector.

[sheaintsayin]

03:44 AM on 10/15/2009

Read about this junk in Big Builder (?) over a year ago and thought at the time that we used to have agencies that looked out for the products we utilized and the safety of workers and consumers. Then I remembered the stolen election, and the 50 million US citizens who got it horribly wrong, again, in '04.

[sueinmn]

11:34 PM on 10/14/2009

Demand American Made folks, we need to protect ourselves, our lost economy needs re vitalizing.
China bad-----America good! Its all about quality, not profits and cheap labor. Why cant one American company come forward with this idea????????

[mike72]

03:18 AM on 10/16/2009

How many recalls have the US companies made in the last two years?

Chinese goods recall is below average! But your mind triggers fear when it is Chinese goods. But if it is US goods, you just ignored it or side stepped.

Do a tally and find out how many US made products have been recalled.

[sueinmn]

11:32 PM on 10/14/2009

Another good examply of WHy but everything China is bad!

They cannot make a product that is safe. They make a product cheap and looks good but nothing more. Our homes are rotting from the inside out, litterally!

[mike72]

03:21 AM on 10/16/2009

Chinese goods are generally good. The recall for Chinese goods are below average. Get this into your mind. Recound how many recalls on US made products in the last two years.

[loki]

09:17 PM on 10/14/2009

Isnt insurance just great. In the case of home owners insurance , home owners are forced to buy it if they take out a loan. but, when the insurers can drop , cancel, deny for any reason they wish, what good does the insurance do ? Now think about this story here, and then think about how forced to purchase health care insurance is going to be?? Oh, your forced to buy it, but they are not forced to cover anything except the cost of cashing your check. maybe.
Just go public option and cut these kinds of problems.

[Rocnjohnny]

11:09 PM on 10/14/2009

And then we have this group fighting any kind of reform. Thats what I can't believe.

[sueinmn]

11:31 PM on 10/14/2009

Thats why we need single payer or a strong public option. This is the only cure whether you hate government or not. the private sector hate us!

[ImissBush]

06:42 PM on 10/14/2009

cheap defective junk frm china??

shockin!!

[KataVideo]

01:56 AM on 10/15/2009

must be made out of the same stuff they put into the cardboard dumplings a couple of years ago

[ImissBush]

07:52 AM on 10/15/2009

or the petfood
or kids formula
or toys

[Antiks]

06:35 PM on 10/14/2009

Who do homeowners sue? How does one sue the manufacturer when they're in China?

[joebaggadonuts]

06:38 PM on 10/14/2009

Sue the installer and let him bring in his supplier, and so on.

[KataVideo]

01:56 AM on 10/15/2009

how about the insurance companies?

[dieselis]

06:30 PM on 10/14/2009

Will someone please list the American companies who profited importing these harmful products to us. What China needs is for someone to show them how to do it right on imports to the USA. A cheap price is meaningless if your spending $5.00 to save a quarter. It becomes quite expensive over time. China knows because it holds so much of our foreign debt little will be done to them for sending us shoddy goods. Some real old school business people should go to China teach them to manufacture quality items ship them to America where we assemble and supply to the market place at reasonable prices. It puts Americans back to work and returns us to a semi-producer status. The American mind is still very innovative it's just been in a coma for about 30yrs. Take our show on the road develop Africa,China,Mexico and South America. Stick it to the Fatcats that install and/ or kill leaders of these countries for the sole purpose of raping the assets and resources and keeping them starved and poverty stricken while they get rich and pretend their dispairity is of their own making.

[RTIII]

08:56 PM on 10/14/2009

China is quite capable of making quality goods. There are just two catches: If you'll accept junk, they'll give you junk. And, YOU have to watch what it is you're accepting - nobody else will.

As for being in a coma for 30 years, well, no. There was an insane but forceful action initiated by Reagan's administration to end manufacturing in this country if they possibly could. Our government has even PAID manufacturing businesses to leave! These policies must stop.

We must have FAIR trade, not just "free" trade. To me, Fair trade means we regain our sovereignty over our environmental and labor laws by having tariffs that make up the difference so local business that does it right can compete with the people who don't.
.

[rbchilds]

04:08 AM on 10/15/2009

Sight one company paid by the government to move manufacturing abroad.

[larmar]

10:41 PM on 10/14/2009

The American Companies involved are probably LLP with a P.O. Box in Jersey City. Upon investigation you will discover their surety bond has been revoked since 2003 for non payment; leaving the home owners no assets to file against.

Real quality people all the way back to China.