Smell ya later: Insurer denies claim for skunk odor in home
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A homeowner’s insurer has denied a claim that a skunk crawled under a house in Littleton, Colorado, died, and stunk up the place to the tune of $40,000 in damages, according to a report on the thedenverchannel.com Wednesday.
Four and-a-half weeks of funk trapped under the house caused an unbearable smell: “All over her furniture, clothes and carpet … almost everything inside (the) house must be thrown out or specially cleaned, at a premium price,” the website reported.
In a series that aims to solve people’s problems, the news channel reporter had no luck getting Safeco Insurance to budge. The insurer denied coverage for the loss because “it has been determined a skunk is classified as a vermin” and there is “no coverage under the policy for damages caused by a vermin,” according to a letter sent to the homeowner and accessed by the news channel.
The homeowner argued that a different insurer covered the claim for another family, according to the article.
A Safeco spokesperson sent the reporter an email: “We also cannot comment on another insurer’s coverage decision for what could hypothetically be a similar claim. Each claim is reviewed on its own merits, and in this situation, it was determined that insurance coverage is not available for this type of loss.”
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