Homeowners With Failing Foundations Ask Legislature For Additional Financial Assistance

March 27--Dozens of Connecticut residents with failing foundations arrived at the Capitol on Monday to make the case for more financial assistance to be made available to homeowners.

"I eat, sleep and breathe this crisis and I have been for the last two and a half years," homeowner and Willington resident Tim Heim said Monday. "Insurance companies in Connecticut have gotten away with too much for too long."

The bill before the judiciary committee would require insurance companies to cover "the peril of collapse" and the costs of mitigation to prevent a collapse or cave-in. Currently, insurance companies do not cover the replacement of a failing foundation. The bill would also require a $20 surcharge on insurance policies to pay into a crumbling foundations assistance fund.

"The insurance companies are fighting this legislation ... I have a problem with that. The victims of crumbling concrete have been fighting this for 26 years," Stafford resident and homeowner Linda Tofolowsky said. "Many of us have used our entire savings, our retirement funds to fix this disaster."

President of the Insurance Association of Connecticut, Eric George, told members of the judiciary committee Monday that requiring insurance providers to cover the peril of collapse would raise premiums for everyone.

"I want to start off by saying I have extraordinary empathy for these homeowners. I live in Glastonbury, my neighbors have this issue," George said. "Our main concern with this coverage mandate is that it is going to have a significant impact on premiums."

Since the issue of failing foundations was detected in north central Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has estimated that as many as 34,000 homes in 36 towns might have failing foundations.

According to a state report, a mineral known as pyrrhotite -- used in the concrete aggregate for the foundations that are now crumbling -- is partly to blame.

Insurance companies have denied homeowners' claims, saying the problem does not qualify for coverage under their definition of collapse, leaving homeowners to bear the burden of a repair or replacement, which can cost as much as $200,000.

Homeowners have sought solutions, including lawsuits against their insurance companies and a class-action lawsuit against 111 active Connecticut insurance companies.

Last year, the state appropriated $100 million over five years to provide financial assistance to homeowners and instated a $12 surcharge on insurance policies to pay into a fund for additional assistance.

Jim Williams, a homeowner in Tolland, said he discovered cracking in his basement walls two years ago. Williams urged lawmakers to take action and look after the well-being of their constituents.

"My story is shared 34,000 times over in Connecticut," he said. "The silence from the state is deafening. Plot a course and find it in your hearts to do the right thing for your constituents."

Debra MacCoy lives in Vernon -- one of the towns hardest hit by the crisis, according to data from the state.

"The homeowner's perspective on this is that there is a reasonable expectation that this would be covered in an insurance policy. It only makes sense that lawmakers would seek a remedy that would help everyone," MacCoy said.

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