How homeowners insurance covers mold damage
Brandi Schmitt and her family pose for a 2018 Christmas card in front of their Maryland home wearing protective gear, alluding to the water and mold damage in their home. Each year, Schmitt said they try to capture the family’s situation through their Christmas card.
Courtesy: Brandi Schmitt
When a nor’easter struck in 2018, intense winds blew shingles, gutters and siding off Brandi Schmitt’s home in Lothian, Maryland.
Her family was without electricity for three days, during which time all of their food in the refrigerator spoiled and water continued to leak into the home, Schmitt said.
As soon as the power came back on, Schmitt said she called her insurance company, USAA, to report the damage.
An adjuster visited the home a week later, and determined the 5,000-square-foot roof needed a total replacement. While she and the insurer debated points of the claim, Schmitt said, the unrepaired damage allowed snow and water from subsequent storms that spring to seep through into her home.
What started as wind and water damage evolved into something much worse: mold.
An independent specialist found no mold in the home on May 2018, according to a “review for fungal activity” investigation documents USAA provided to Schmitt that CNBC reviewed. Then in October, a follow-up investigation found and “observed visible moisture and an increased moldy odor.”
In the intervening months, Schmitt and her family had developed health issues, including rashes and coughs. Their yellow Labrador and four guinea pigs all died within months of each other.
An immunoglobulins test result from November 2018 provided to CNBC by Schmitt shows high levels of antibodies in her blood from exposure to aspergillus niger, a common mold.
“I called [USAA] and said, ‘Are you going to wait for it to kill us?'” Schmitt said.
The family moved out of the house for good that same month.
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Despite paying for extra “fungus, wet or dry rot” coverage of up to $15,000 in her policy, Schmitt said USAA did not remove wet insulation from the attic where she believes the mold is growing. Air samples in the home taken in January 2020 found “problem mold concentrations,” according to fungal activity review documents USAA provided to Schmitt.
Schmitt and her husband, Joseph, sued the insurer in 2019. A unanimous jury on March 7, 2023, determined USAA materially breached the terms of their homeowner policy and awarded Schmitt $41,480 for interior repairs and $7,200 for additional living expenses. She is currently appealing the damages because of estimates that repairs will cost much more.
A spokesperson from USAA said the company is unable to address specifics due to that ongoing litigation, but said “USAA disagrees with the facts as characterized by Ms….
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