The Mountain Green Ski & Golf Resort in Killington,
Vermont, suffered a devastating fire loss at the end of ski season. The fire
began in an underground parking garage, burning so hot that it melted a portion
of the structural steel supporting the seven–story condo resort.
Case Description
As a result of the high–intensity fire, the first floor
collapsed two feet and the threat of a total collapse loomed. Damage was in the
millions of dollars, and business for the following ski season was threatened
if the property could not be repaired in time.
List of Issues
Could
Mountain Green repair the partially collapsed building and be back in
business for the next season, or was demolition the only option?
How
would Mountain Green handle the interests of the 116 condo owners?
What
cleanup and mitigation efforts were covered in the policy?
The
elevator system was damaged, but according to the insurance carrier,
replacing the elevators was not covered by the policy.
The
insurance carrier attempted to classify major damage to the property as
pre–existing.
Solutions Applied
Determined to save the building from demolition, Adjusters International
located an engineering firm specializing in structural repair to lift and
suspend the building, repair the structural steel and the ground floor, and
then reattach the building to the foundation. This approach saved money and
time–critical for the resort´s reopening.
Adjusters International set up a hotline for the individual condo owners, and
also handled the associations involvement in each owner claim. This streamlined
the tenants´ claims processes with their various insurance carriers.
The insurance company was reluctant to pay to clean metal surfaces. Adjusters
International argued that, without the cleaning, the stage would be set for the
insurance company to later deny coverage for the rusting metal surfaces using
the logic that damage was not mitigated as required.
State officials agreed with Adjusters Internationals experts that the elevators
would not be safe if repaired. Since the state would not certify the repairs,
the insurance company stated this was a codes and ordinance upgrade issue, and
thus, not covered by the insurance policy. Adjusters International argued that
since no upgraded standard was required, it was not a codes mandate.
Adjusters International proved that cracked tiles throughout the resort were
not pre–existing. Since smoke covered all surfaces, and many cracks in the tile
were clean and white, and not covered with soot, the cracks had to have
occurred at the time of collapse.
Outcome
In a classic case of point/counter-point, Adjusters
International executed a well-coordinated plan to resolve disparities
throughout the insurance claim process. The resort was successfully
re-opened–just nine months later–in time for the next ski season.
