Insurance company cancels policy days after North Carolina couple loses home to landslide

BOONE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A Boone couple's home is one of thousands destroyed by a landslide caused by Hurricane Helene. Just days after the storm hit, their insurance company canceled their homeowner's policy, despite the couple not having landslide coverage or the company even selling it.

Now the couple, Scott Richardson and Meta Gatschenberger, is hoping to raise money through donations to help with bills and cleanup.

"That was the kitchen window right there. And that was the bathroom. And in the back bedroom," said Richardson.

The couple took a few seconds to take it what their home of 25 years looked like now. They said eight days ago, their home was ripped from its foundation due to a mudslide during Hurricane Helene.

It's been deemed unsafe to be around.

"Good thing we weren't home," Richardson said.

They had the basic homeowner's insurance including fire and theft but no landslide or flood insurance. The National Flood Insurance Program says across seven affected states, less than one percent of homes in inland counties affected by the storm had flood insurance.

"If it's only an extra five bucks for everybody, throw it in there. For some, the rare one out of 10,000 may use it. It would cover it," Richardson said.

He believes it should be included in everyone's policy.

In North Carolina, and many other states, flood insurance is not required unless the bank requires it. North Carolina Department of Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey says if it rains where you live, you need flood insurance.

"What we learned from Hurricane Florence is that in 2018, we had close to 200,000 homeowners that lost their home and got zero insurance," Causey said.

FEMA's website says "floods can happen anywhere- just one inch of floodwater can cause up to $25,000 in damage"

The couple says this home was worth $416,000 and had less than $70,000.

"Its drained our savings. We have to have an apartment now; we have a tiny little apartment," Richardson said. "And we're paying on this too, and we're retired. We're on social security, a fixed income."

The couple created a GoFundMe to raise money for home expenses and cleanup. They're about $65,000 from their goal.

Commissioner Causey is studying how a comprehensive policy including flooding would help homeowners in the long run.

"That would be the choice the agent would present to the consumer and say you realize none of these things are covered if you don't have this comprehensive plan," Causey said. "And people could say, 'Well, I'm willing to take the risk or I'm not.'"

For Gatschenberger, it's still shocking.

"It's unbelievable.. Like it's someone else's house," she said.