Boulder County residents say insurance company ‘failed us’ after Fourmile Fire [Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.]

May 31--CORRECTION: State Farm spokeswoman Angela Thorpe's name was incorrect in a previous version of this story.

Linda Tarr and David Doherty say they're basically homeless this week after spending almost two years fighting to get State Farm insurance to pay to repair their home after the Fourmile Fire.

Their house, at 6040 Fourmile Canyon, was one of 169 homes declared a complete loss after the September 2010 fire. Although the house suffered extensive smoke and water damage, the structure was still standing thanks to the efforts of volunteer firefighters. The firefighters doused the house and the nearby propane tank with thousands of gallons of water as the fire burned.

Tarr filed the claim immediately and was "fully insured," but State Farm delayed and eventually stopped paying after she filed a lawsuit, she said. The family's financial resources are exhausted and their house still uninhabitable, she said.

"State Farm has completely failed us," she said.

Angela Thorpe, spokeswoman for State Farm, said Tarr did not grant permission for the agency to discuss her case with the media. But, she said, the "vast majority" of the 40 or so claims by State Farm customers whose homes were destroyed in the Fourmile Fire have been resolved, with customers either rebuilding or relocating.

"We're proud of our service that we've provided our customers following the Fourmile Fire," she said.

Tarr, who retired in 2006 after working as a teacher at Boulder'sSeptember School, has lived in the Fourmile house for the past 26 years and maintained a policy with State Farm the entire time. This is the first time she's filed a claim, she said.

"When you pay an insurance company for 26 years, you expect them to fix it," she said.

Tarr said State Farm stopped all contact after she filed a lawsuit last year in September -- a lawsuit she said she filed because of the company's "one-year statute of limitations" rule. If she hadn't filed, she would have given up her right to recover legal fees or out-of-pocket expenses, she said.

"I know there's retribution here," she said.

The pending lawsuit, which names State Farm, State Farm'sLezlie Leier Insurance Co. and agent Larry Eiseman, alleges a breach of contract based on delays and contested coverage amounts. Tarr wants State Farm to pay the remaining cost to rebuild her home, her rent for the months that weren't paid, the cost of counseling and her legal fees.

Although State Farm eventually paid the amount originally estimated to repair the home, she said, the builder uncovered structural problems with the original portion of the building -- issues that she believes State Farm is required to cover to bring the house up to code. State Farm has yet to pay those costs, and construction halted, she said.

"We've had to fight them every step of the way," she said. "State Farm has spent more on the legal fees than it would cost them to fix the house."

She said State Farm also stopped paying the cost of her rental home six months ago, even though the policy covered two years of additional living expenses.

Garry Sanfacon, Boulder County's Fourmile Fire recovery manager, said many of the fire victims have had insurance problems. The majority of the issues come from being underinsured, he said, while others have faced extensive delays. He said no one insurance agency seems to be the problem, but individual agents have made it difficult for some victims.

Of the 169 homes lost, 18 have been rebuilt and occupied. Altogether, the county has issued 56 building permits to owners of homes destroyed in the fire.

"Overall, the insurance system is incredibly flawed for people going through a disaster like this," Sanfacon said. "There are still people who haven't fully settled insurance claims."

In Tarr's case, he said, "It seems to me that the insurance company is trying to delay this process to try to break Linda and David financially."

Before the fire, Tarr and Doherty ran East Wallstreet Traders, a 4-year-old eBay store featuring Native American antiques and other rare wares. Most of their stock was destroyed in the fire, and their business wasn't insured, they said, because they had just begun to turn a profit and couldn't afford insurance.

Between losing the business and spending "more than $65,000 on rent and legal fees," Tarr said, they are out of money and aren't sure if they can continue their lawsuit.

They recently qualified for food stamps, receive assistance through the Emergency Family Assistance Association and hope soon to move into temporary housing through help from the Boulder Housing Stabilization Program. But, they said, they wouldn't be a "burden" on taxpayers if State Farm had met its obligations.

Finding an affordable place to rent also has been challenging, they said, especially because they have three cats and two small dogs. They said there's a rental in Longmont that may work, though they likely will need to spend a few nights in a tent they've set up on their property until they can move in next week.

Ultimately, they still want to move back to their Fourmile home.

"It's our dream house, our dream land," Doherty said. "It's a little piece of paradise."

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