Markham woman says insurance denied claim, leaving her displaced and facing nearly $18K lien
Markham woman says insurance denied claim, leaving her displaced and facing nearly $18K lien
At 81 years old, Brenda Daurham says she never imagined she would be fighting to return to the home she spent decades protecting, over 30 years.
MARKHAM, Ill. - At 81 years old, Brenda Daurham says she never imagined she would be fighting to return to the home she spent decades protecting, over 30 years.
For more than 40 years, Daurham says she paid for homeowners insurance, believing it would be there when she needed it.
Now, six months after a plumbing failure damaged her Markham home, Daurham says she remains displaced, her insurance claim has been denied and a restoration company has placed a lien on her property for nearly $18,000.
"I have nothing, nothing at all, so I just want somebody to help me," Daurham said through tears. "I had to go to the emergency room Monday because I was breaking down. I was so nervous I didn’t know what to do."
A Valentine's Day plumbing problem
Daurham says the ordeal began on Feb. 14, when a pipe beneath her kitchen sink failed, sending water through her kitchen and into other portions of the home.
Images provided to FOX Chicago show extensive damage and portions of the kitchen torn apart following the water mitigation work.
"The pipe underneath the cabinet…the fire department came out and then I called the insurance company and they said everything was covered. I didn’t have to worry about a thing," Daurham said.
Daurham says she believed she had checked with Allstate before the cleanup began and that the necessary work would be covered.
Excel Fire and Water Damage Restoration Services subsequently performed mitigation work at the property.
Daurham says she expected the work to be paid for through her insurance.
That didn't happen.
Allstate denies the claim
According to documents reviewed by FOX Chicago, Allstate denied the claim, citing policy exclusions involving wear and tear, deterioration and seepage.
Daurham disputes that conclusion.
"You think you have insurance, you think you are covered, and I had the highest of everything …then when something happens they don’t cover anything," she said.
Excel has also challenged the denial.
In correspondence requesting reconsideration, the restoration company said its observations were consistent with a "sudden and accidental plumbing failure."
Excel said the loss was discovered and reported promptly and mitigation began the following day.
The company also pointed to language in Daurham's insurance policy concerning direct physical damage caused by the "sudden and accidental escape of water" from a plumbing system.
Excel asked Allstate to provide the specific factual basis for determining that the damage resulted from long-term seepage rather than a sudden plumbing failure.
Then came the lien
While the insurance dispute continued, Daurham encountered another problem.
Excel says it performed more than $17,000 worth of work at the home but was not paid.
According to documents reviewed by FOX Chicago, a mechanic's lien was recorded against Daurham's property with the Cook County Clerk on Aug. 20.
The amount claimed: $17,827.96, plus potential interest, attorney's fees and costs.
Daurham says she simply does not have the money.
Asked whether she could afford to pay the roughly $18,000 bill herself, her answer was immediate:
"By no means."
The situation has left Daurham caught between an insurance company that denied her claim and a restoration company that says it performed the work and deserves to be paid.
Meanwhile, she says she still cannot live in her home.
"It’s horrible, it’s devastating. I can’t even stand it any longer, that’s why I had to go to the hospital cause I felt like I was having a breakdown," Daurham said.
More than an insurance dispute
For Daurham, the fight has become about far more than plumbing, policy language or an unpaid restoration bill.
It is about getting home.
After more than four decades of paying to protect the place she calls her American dream, the 81-year-old says she now finds herself fighting to keep it.
FOX Chicago reached out to Allstate seeking an explanation of the evidence used to deny Daurham's claim and asking about her account that she was initially told the loss would be covered.
FOX Chicago also contacted Excel Fire and Water Damage Restoration Services regarding the lien and asked whether the company would consider removing or suspending it while the insurance dispute is resolved.
This story will be updated with their responses.
The Source: The information in this article was reported by FOX Chicago's Tia Ewing.