Woman Warns To Read Insurance Policy Carefully After Home Wall Collapse
While folks are cleaning up Wednesday morning’s storm damage one local woman has a warning to carefully read your insurance policy.
An entire wall of Vickie Bunch’s home caved in, destroying everything inside… and her insurance company has denied her claim.
Rubble and mud is what’s left of Vickie Bunch’s home… Mud and water cover what used to be her living space, a huge hole where the back wall would have been, “That’s everything I own…it’s all muddy now.”
It happened early Wednesday morning during the passing storms.
The rear wall collapsed sending the rain soaked ground pouring through.
Vickie’s dog woke her up just after 12:30 and got her out of bed, other wise she would have been crushed under the cinder block, “Next thing I knew my house was crashing in.”
But the bigger shock came after Vickie talked to her insurance company.
The life long Farm Bureau customer learned this accident wasn’t covered, “He called me about four o’clock and said I was denied, nothing…I didn’t get contents house or nothing, I have nothing.”
Farm Bureau Insrance of Tennessee issued this statement:
“Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee certainly empathizes with Ms. Bunch, but we are bound by the terms of the homeowner policy. It is standard practice of the insurance industry not to cover hydrostatic ground events. The risk pool for such losses is too small to make such coverage affordable.”
Hydrostatic events occur when ground water pressure builds up causing objects to shift.
Vickie’s home is carved into a small hill, several feet of the rear wall was underground.
Vickie’s brother-in-law Garry Henderson says structural damage is responsible for the wall collapse, and he says the contractor agrees, “Water’s going somewhere and it’s made to go in the ground. It’s gonna happen everywhere. That don’t necessarily mean the back of your wall’s gonna cave in on your house.”
Vickie has contacted an attorney, but is still exploring her options. She says she intended to retire in this home…but in the mean time, she’s still liable for the payments, “I just thought I was covered. I had no clue if my wall collapsed I wouldn’t be covered.”
Now here’s the good news…
The community is rallying around Vickie and plans to start rebuilding her home Friday.
Plus, a home is being providing free of charge for Vickie to live until that construction is complete