Mold-Related Claims by State, Number of Claims, and Year Filed

Policyholders of America, a non-profit association of policyholders, has been tracking first party mold claims submitted to insurance companies all over the country. Policyholders was founded in 2002 by Melinda Ballard and other policyholders who found themselves embroiled in legal battles with their insurance companies because of bad faith claims handling practices.

In 1999, Ballard began to chart and document other first party (mold-related) insurance claims, including those that pre-dated her 1998 claim. The database she has created includes only first party mold claims where the insured retained legal counsel.

Ballard estimates that approximately 40 to 50 percent …