On December 30, 2023, David Fauls found himself in a terrifying situation. Fauls was playing in the basement with his kids when something unexpected occurred: “I just heard this unexplainably massive sound," he said. “I looked out and I could see the mushroom cloud."
What Fauls heard was his neighbor’s home exploding in an incident that shook Fauls’s own home as well. Fauls and another neighbor ran toward the flames to help Richard Pruden, the neighbor whose home had disappeared with the blast. Tragically, Pruden and his grandson were hurt and his daughter, her husband and their other two children were killed in what the officials preliminarily called an “undetermined fuel air explosion” — one of several house explosions that has rocked Southeast Michigan recently.
Fauls did what any good neighbor would do in a crisis, offering assistance on that devastating day. But now, he is also in need of help and says his insurer isn’t stepping up. The company refuses to cover the $68,000 in damages to his home — damages he believes resulted from the explosion.
Fauls has been pleading for aid ever since, even as the wait causes financial devastation for his family. "No family should have to go into debt or break the bank to get the coverage that they’re paying for insurance to cover,” Fauls said.
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Why the insurer isn’t covering the damage
Fauls’s home is located 600 feet away from the exploding property and in the aftermath of the tragedy, Fauls says he began to notice what he says are new problems around his own home.
"I’ve got to get past the emotion and trauma of this thing and then try to deal with this,” he told WXYZ Detroit. “Every single day we just found something else and we just kept seeing more and more.” He listed split moldings, cracks in the foundation and a host of other serious issues, including significant damage to at least 10 windows.
Estimated repair costs included $23,745 for foundation issues and $44,256 for windows. Following the explosion, Fauls asked his insurer, AAA Auto Insurance Club Association, to cover the costs — but he says the insurer refused to send a claims representative to see the damage firsthand.
"He refused. He just would never step on site. He would not get involved. He would not try and see the damages,” Fauls told WXYZ. The insurer did send a forensic engineer from Nederveld Engineering, who Fauls described as "very dismissive."
The engineer attributed the cracks and window damage to the age of Fauls’s home, rather than the blast, so the insurer agreed to pay $20,223 in damages for cracked paint and drywall and nothing at all towards the $68,000 the windows and foundation would cost. However, Fauls disagrees with this assessment.
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"I see a report that’s telling me the plastic broken in between my window panes is age-related deterioration. When a concussive force rocked this house and I watched that and now there’s discoloring and you can’t see out these windows. I’m like, OK, this is craziness. This is not just unprofessional, it’s absurd,” said Fauls.
For its part, AAA told WXYZ that, “[Auto Club Insurance Association] takes all homeowner claims seriously" but said that the company brought in an independent, licensed engineering firm to provide expertise and evaluate the situation as a matter of common practice and the company stands by the engineer’s report, which makes clear the damage wasn’t caused by the explosion.
It says, "there was a portion of the claim in which coverage could not be afforded based on the expert engineering findings, which concluded that the damages in question were not attributable to that same incident but were consistent with normal age-related wear and tear."
Fauls isn’t satisfied and neither are many others who are covered by the same insurer. In fact, Fauls and 61 others filed complaints against AAA last year with Michigan’s Department of Insurance and Financial Services. These complaints meant AAA earned the fifth-highest number of insurance complaints in Michigan during that time period.
What to do when an insurer won’t pay
Considering this as a cautionary tale, you may want to avoid a similar situation by doing the following:
- Carefully review your insurance policy to understand what is and isn’t covered prior to any incidents or claims and sign up for coverage that offers what you need
- Take detailed photos of your property and home upon taking possession so you have a clear reference point to what state the house is in
- If you have an inspection report, keep this handy as well
- Take pictures of any damage you do see, so you can keep track of what was and wasn’t already pre-existing
When disputes like this occur, legal battles are one outcome and decisions to pursue them often come down to which side can put together the most compelling case. If you’ve already claimed damages and find the insurer isn’t willing to pay for them, you may:
- Obtain a lawyer to help you argue your case
- Get additional expert opinions of your own as soon as possible following the incident to see if the insurer’s findings are consistent with your experts’
- Talk to others who witnessed the event or neighbors who may have also noticed the same issues with their own home
- Carefully document all new damage you attribute to the incident
- Keep records of repair bills
- Depending on your circumstances, you may also want to file a complaint with your local insurance commissioner, as Fauls did
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
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