One major insurer is facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit after denying the claim of owners of a mansion that burned to the ground last.
Homeowners Jeffrey and Maria Decker filed the nearly $60 million suit (US) earlier this month in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, alleging
Chubb National Insurance Co. did not honor their claims and gave no “reasonable justification” for the denial.
The fire that destroyed the 10,000-square-foot, 22-room home in Cincinnati, Ohio took hours to put out and caused at least $5 million in damage, court documents show. The house itself was worth more than $4 million according to the county auditor’s website.
The Deckers are seeking a declaratory judgment for $15 million, plus $44.9 million in punitive damages for a total of $59.9 million. They had an insurance policy with Chubb for $8.8 million in coverage on the house and $4.4 million the contents, which included furs, jewelry and fine art.
The policy had exclusions for faulty planning, construction or maintenance, intentional acts leading to losses and negligence.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, and no one was at home when the fire started.
