A Millinocket mom is still fighting insurance 2 years after a house fire

Dec. 9—After Kaitlyn Bailey's house caught fire, she did not expect a yearslong insurance dispute.

The single mom's Millinocket house caught fire Nov. 10, 2023, while she and her kids, now ages 18, 10 and 7, were inside. Between the fire and water damage, they could not live in the home on Ash Street. Bailey ran into problems with her homeowner's insurance that eventually led to her hiring a lawyer and then filing an October lawsuit.

"It's been a really rocky road," she said.

The lawsuit against National General Insurance and underwriter Integon National Insurance Company alleges the companies committed a breach of contract, and had unfair claims and trade practices. Bailey asked a judge to award her $455,000 to cover the claim.

The insurance companies, which are subsidiaries of Allstate Insurance Group, moved the lawsuit from a Bangor court to the U.S. District Court of Maine in November.

The insurance companies have no comment on the lawsuit, attorney Brian Suslak said. The companies said in a legal filing that Bailey is not entitled to a court judgment and dispute the "nature, extent and effect of damages" that Bailey and her family suffered.

Bailey has had multiple interviews with the insurance companies where she's had to fight for payment, she said. At one interview, she said she was accused of setting the fire. The Millinocket Fire Department determined Bailey was not at fault, her lawsuit says.

She said she was happy in her home, where she had a $280-per-month mortgage. She now pays $1,000 a month for a 2-bedroom apartment. After the fire, community members rallied to help Bailey find an apartment and pay the security deposit, which she said she was grateful for.

"I definitely would not have started the fire, that's for sure," Bailey said.

Before Bailey was able to move into the apartment, she and her kids lived with her sister in "tight quarters," she said. At one point Bailey moved out and was living in her car and was homeless — despite having insurance that was supposed to cover temporary housing, she said.

The insurance companies reimbursed Bailey about $45,000, according to court records. The $450,000 she is seeking would replace the damaged home, all personal property and include 1.5% interest on unpaid claims allowed by the state.

There was significant water and smoke damage to the first floor of the house after the fire on the second floor, said Martin McDonough, a Patten-based insurance claims adjuster who called this case one of the "worst ones" he has seen in terms of an insurer not paying out a policy. McDonough took on Bailey's case after hearing about it.

The insurance companies said Bailey should provide a list of items lost in the fire, which totaled more than $100,000, McDonough said. However the companies declined to pay, instead asking for more information.

"This is a covered loss," McDonough said.

McDonough said he had a "cookie cutter" house in East Millinocket that recently had a claim through a different insurance company which has paid for the hotel and is paying for an apartment for the people who were displaced.

Bailey said she just wants to get into a new or renovated house with her kids, with enough space for them to have their own rooms.

"I'm not looking for pity at all," Bailey said. "[I just want to] live a happy life."

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