Cleaning & Maintenance Management Online, Sept. 23, 2002

WASHINGTON –– A new report is underscoring just how lucrative mold has become for mold remediators, water damage restoration experts, indoor air quality testers and others associated with the industry.

Mold claims cost homeowners insurers $1 billion in 2001 and are blamed by insurers as being a major factor for the first recorded fiscal year loss in the property/casualty insurance industry history, the Insurance Journal reported.

While playing more of factor in the $7.9 billion deficit was the decline in the stock market, the $1 billion in mold claim payouts still underscore a huge problem for insurers and a huge potential for remediators and indoor air quality specialists.

The Insurance Journal quoted the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) as reporting that mold claim payouts for 2001 increased five times over their 2000 levels.

JanSan industry experts told CM e-News Daily/CMM Online that the draw of the mold industry is expected to only grow as public hysteria about mold and a lack of clear science to either dispel concerns, or validate them, continues.