The Alabama Insurance Commission has agreed to place a $10,000 cap on mold damage claims on homeowner's insurance policies; while in Florida, mold was the hot topic at a public forum sponsored by the Florida Insurance Commission in Pensacola.

The cap amount is below the average mold claim of $17,000 in Texas, where a much smaller cap had been requested. The Alabama Insurance Service Office Inc., a rating organization that represents several hundred insurers, requested the cap on mold damage claims.

Alabama Business Review also reported that other companies, including State Farm, are seeking state permission to change the language on mold coverage.

So far Wisconsin and Alabama are the only states to have put limits on mold claims. The Texas Department of Insurance considered a $5,000 cap and instead approved a plan to offer varying levels of coverage; many homeowners are facing sharply higher rates for the same levels of coverage they had last year.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension indicates there has been an increase in mold illness symptoms associated with flooding in the southern part of the state. Portions of Alabama were declared disaster areas by the president on 35 occasions from 1969 to 1997; twice the entire state was declared a disaster area.

Florida holds public forum

Mold was also a hot topic at a public forum held last week at Pensacola's Junior College. The Florida Department of Insurance sponsored the forum to obtain public input concerning mold coverage. Insurance companies in Florida have reported a spike in mold claims the last couple of years. Such claims easily can reach tens of thousands of dollars and sometimes the full value of a home, the Pensacola News Journal.

Fearing a repeat of the multimillion-dollar mold lawsuits in Texas -- which drove up homeowners' premiums $400 to $500 and nearly bankrupted insurance companies in that state -- Florida insurance companies are looking for protection, the newspaper reported.

More than 400 have asked the Florida Department of Insurance to limit, and in some cases even eliminate, their responsibility to cover mold claims. The department is expected to make a decision on the issue by the end of October, the article said.

Currently, homeowners' policies in Florida cover mold damage if it's caused by an accident or an act that is covered in a specific policy.

Several Florida insurance companies are asking the state to allow them to offer the mold coverage as an add-on option to a standard policy.

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