mike honcho
Knuckleheads
The West Fertilizer Co., scene of an explosion last month that killed 15 people and injured 200, carried only $1 million in liability insurance.
The cause of the blast is still under investigation. Should the company be found negligent, that amount of coverage probably would pay only a fraction of the claims.
Property damage alone in West could reach $100 million, according to the Insurance Council of Texas, an industry association. The April 17 explosion destroyed an apartment complex and seriously damaged a nursing home and a school. Several hundred homes also sustained damage, with some leveled to the foundation.
An attorney for United States Fire Insurance Co. of Morristown, N.J., confirmed Friday that West Fertilizer had $1 million in liability coverage “with no excess or umbrella coverage.”
Fertilizer facilities like the one in West are not required to have liability insurance that would compensate for damage they might cause, state insurance officials say, even if hazardous material is on hand.
West Fertilizer had reported having 270 tons of ammonium nitrate on site as of the end of last year. Outside experts have said it appears the chemical exploded during a fire on company property.
The office of state Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman issued a written statement late Friday saying the Texas Department of Insurance “does not have actual knowledge of the existence of or details regarding any liability insurance coverage” of the West facility.
“Others have estimated the damages at $100 million,” Kitzman’s office said, “far more than the amount of insurance we have heard the company may have had.”
Kitzman’s office said it isn’t the department’s role to “assess and quantify risk; we regulate the insurers that help consumers and businesses insure their risk.”
Tyler lawyer Randy C. Roberts, who has filed two negligence suits against West Fertilizer on behalf of victims, said the company’s policy was deeply inadequate.
“A million dollars is a pathetic amount for this type of dangerous activity,” Roberts said.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/west...-1-million-a-fraction-of-estimated-losses.ece
The cause of the blast is still under investigation. Should the company be found negligent, that amount of coverage probably would pay only a fraction of the claims.
Property damage alone in West could reach $100 million, according to the Insurance Council of Texas, an industry association. The April 17 explosion destroyed an apartment complex and seriously damaged a nursing home and a school. Several hundred homes also sustained damage, with some leveled to the foundation.
An attorney for United States Fire Insurance Co. of Morristown, N.J., confirmed Friday that West Fertilizer had $1 million in liability coverage “with no excess or umbrella coverage.”
Fertilizer facilities like the one in West are not required to have liability insurance that would compensate for damage they might cause, state insurance officials say, even if hazardous material is on hand.
West Fertilizer had reported having 270 tons of ammonium nitrate on site as of the end of last year. Outside experts have said it appears the chemical exploded during a fire on company property.
The office of state Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman issued a written statement late Friday saying the Texas Department of Insurance “does not have actual knowledge of the existence of or details regarding any liability insurance coverage” of the West facility.
“Others have estimated the damages at $100 million,” Kitzman’s office said, “far more than the amount of insurance we have heard the company may have had.”
Kitzman’s office said it isn’t the department’s role to “assess and quantify risk; we regulate the insurers that help consumers and businesses insure their risk.”
Tyler lawyer Randy C. Roberts, who has filed two negligence suits against West Fertilizer on behalf of victims, said the company’s policy was deeply inadequate.
“A million dollars is a pathetic amount for this type of dangerous activity,” Roberts said.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/west...-1-million-a-fraction-of-estimated-losses.ece