Tainted Drywall From China... So Far Insurance Has Not Been Able to Help

Could you imagine? You finally saved up for that dream home and now the stuff that makes up your walls, the drywall, is toxic? It is happening at an alarming rate in FL and who knows how many other homes we will soon see affected. According to www.csmonitor.com, "The discovery of sulfur-emitting compounds within the imported construction materials has sparked a national investigation, numerous lawsuits, and a scandal that is feared to have affected as many as 100,000 homes, a majority so far in Florida. Reparations could run into the billions of dollars.

Over 500 million pounds of drywall were imported from China between 2004 and 2007 when the construction boom was at a peak and domestic materials in short supply, with demand exacerbated by the reconstruction programs that followed hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. Laboratory tests carried out for Florida's Department of Health showed that samples of Chinese-made drywall contained strontium sulfide, which gives a rotten egg odor when moistened and reacts with hydrogen in the air to take on corrosive powers capable of eating through metals and electrical wires."

So why can't this be covered under insurance? Well, first it is a manufacturer defect. Second, tainted drywall is not a covered peril but since it is new problem it also is not an exclusion. That could pose a problem and insurance companies are currently at a loss as how to handle the cases.