Insurance companies that paid out nearly $900,000 to repair two damaged houses are trying to recoup their losses by suing contractors they claim were negligent and responsible for the disasters.
A Bedford house sustained $457,231 in losses when a furnace malfunctioned last year, according to court records. A Chappaqua house sustained $394,750 in damages when an electric wire failed in 2022.
The insurers claim that contractors that serviced the Bedford and Chappaqua houses were negligent.
Bakers Standard Insurance Co., Philadelphia, the insurer of the Bedford house, sued Halstead-Quinn Petroleum Co., a HVAC contractor in Mount Kisco, Jan. 25 in White Plains federal court.
Halstead-Quinn serviced the oil-fired Bedford boiler in November 2023. Two months later, according to the complaint, oil fumes that had built up in the furnace delayed ignition of the burner and led to a puff back, a kind of explosion, that expelled smoke and soot throughout the house.
Bakers Standard says it paid $457,231 to repair and remediate the property on behalf of homeowner Martin Wayne. Now it blames Halstead-Quinn for the damages and is demanding payment, for alleged failure to properly inspect the furnace or identify the dangerous condition.
Halstead-Quinn did not reply to an email asking for its side of the story.
Diamond State Insurance Co., Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, the insurer of the Chappaqua house, sued Galante Enterprises Inc., Scarsdale, and State Wide Inspection Services Inc., Fishkill, Feb. 4 in White Plains federal court.
Galante Enterprises is an electrical contractor that installed a new circuit breaker panel, according to the complaint. State Wide Inspection approved the work in August 2021.
Six months later, in February 2022, high winds knocked down a utility pole near the house, according to the complaint, and electric service was shut off. When service was restored, a grounding wire overheated, arced and ignited a fire.
Diamond State Insurance alleges that the new breaker panel required a heavier gauge grounding wire and that Galante had reused the old wire that could not handle the stronger electrical current.
Diamond State paid $394,750 to repair the property, on behalf of the owner, Lady Home Flipper, of Chester, Orange County.
Diamond State accused Galante Enterprises of failure to install a properly-rated grounding wire, and State Wide Inspection Services of failure to identify improper wiring.
Lady Home Flipper bought the house in 2018 for $520,000 and it was up for sale when the fire occurred. The house sold 10 months later, according to property records, for $889,000.
State Wide Inspection Services did not reply to an email asking for its side of the story. Efforts to contact Galante Enterprises for a comment were unsuccessful.
