Car owners reportedly having problems with insurance in Bayshore collapse

When the parking garage at Bayshore Mall partially collapsed in February, everyone was thankful no one was hurt, however some car owners are having trouble getting their costs covered.

Chris Bossert's car was undamaged in the incident, but since it was parked on the second level of the parking garage, it meant it was stuck until authorities could safely remove it.

But in the immediate moment, Bossert needed a car to get back home to West Bend. And there was a rush of cars being rented from people who were in the same situation.

"We were all fending for ourselves," Bossert said. He eventually rented a car for $110 per day. A week after the collapse he got his car back.

That's when he started talking with Bayshore Mall's insurance company, hoping to be reimbursed $800 for his rental car.

On April 24, he got a letter from the mall's insurance company saying it was not going to cover the cost of the rental car. Instead, it claimed Bossert needed to contact Winter Services, LLC, the snow removal company that was contracted by the mall.

"It does seem like I'm in the middle of two insurance companies," Bossert said. "Each one is going to point at the other."

Justin Wallace, president of Wallace Insurance Law in Sheboygan, represents Bossert and possibly other affected car owners who are seeking to be reimbursed by either the mall or the snow removal company for a rental car.

"That sparked some folks to feel like they were just getting the run-around," Wallace said. "People were hoping to, kind of, get a relatively simple resolution."

In February, dozens of cars were either damaged or trapped in the Bayshore Mall parking garage after heavy snow was piled onto one level of the garage, likely, causing the floors to collapse.

Both the mall and the snow removal company are sorting out which party is at fault.

"If they have any insurance left, I'd be shocked," Wallace said of Winter Services. "I'd have to imagine that any liability insurance they have has probably already been exhausted toward the repair of the structure itself."

Bayshore Mall has not responded to requests for comment.

"It's a big disruption when your car is stuck and it's completely unplanned," Bossert said. "The whole reason insurance exists is to guard against these kinds of losses."

Bossert tried going to his car insurance company to get reimbursed, but since his car wasn't damaged, that meant there was no insurable incident and the company wasn't going to pay for the rental car.

Wallace said he has yet to hear from the Winter Services insurance company.

Wallace is hoping to recoup $800 for Bossert, but getting low amounts of money from insurance providers can be difficult, he said.

"It's much easier for me to get, say, a life insurance company to pay a $250,000 claim than a $25,000 claim," Wallace said. "Insurance companies presume people will walk away from smaller claims."

For the past several days, Wallace has been getting calls from other car owners inquiring about how they could get some money back from the insurance companies.

"If for some set of people it does come down to looking to whomever was at fault here to get their reimbursement, one of the things we need is strength in numbers," Wallace said. "For one $800 claim, that's not going to be taken very seriously by the carriers and we're going to get this pointing back and forth ... we need more leverage to get these folks to take it seriously."

One option for the affected car owners, Wallace said, is for them to receive damages from their car insurance provider and then have that insurance company contact the others to get reimbursed.

"People are hesitant to do that because that might affect their own rates going forward," Wallace said. "Every situation is a little bit different. Every insurance policy is a little bit different."