Mold Isn't Gold -- Texas Supreme 

Court Concludes Mold Claims Not Covered  

The fear of mold claims was engendered in the insurance industry by the trial court decision in Ballard v. Fire Insurance Exchange, No. 99-05232 (Texas District Court, Travis County, June 1, 2001), cited in Jury Awards $32 Million to Texas Homeowner in Mold Coverage Action, 6, No. 12, Mealey’s Emerging Insurance Disputes 11 (June 20, 2001 and “What Coverage Attorneys Need to Know About Mold,” Tort and Insurance Practice Law Journal, Fall 2002 (38:1), at page 45). The trial court decision encouraged a flood of “toxic mold” cases in Texas and across the United States. This article explains why mold suits were based upon a misinterpretatiom of insurance policy language. The Texas Supreme Court said:

The question in this case is not whether insurers should provide mold coverage in Texas, a public policy question beyond our jurisdiction as a court. The question instead is whether the language in an insurance policy provides such coverage, no more and no less.

The policy here provides that it does not cover 'loss caused by mold.' While other parts of the policy sometimes make it difficult to decipher, we cannot hold that mold damage is covered when the policy expressly says it is not. Accordingly, we answer the Fifth Circuit's certified question 'No,'”