Poisonous Spiders Force Indiana Family From Home; Insurer Refuses To Indemnify

In Anderson, Indiana, The Anderson Herald Bulletin reports:

• It’s every arachnophobe’s or homeowner’s nightmare: The home you just bought already has tenants — hundreds of poisonous brown recluse spiders. That was the reality for Chad Cook, his pregnant wife and their 1- and 3-year-old children in April 2005, when they moved into their home at 906 Whitmore St. in Anderson and discovered the poisonous arachnids had infested their home.

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• The infestation sparked a lawsuit when the spiders couldn’t be done away with. Allstate, the insurer for the Cooks, wouldn’t compensate the family for its uninhabitable home. The family also sued for compensation for punitive damages, financial losses, emotional distress and the covered value of the home and its contents under the insurance policy, $187,000. The ensuing legal battle between the family and Allstate, which dragged on for more than two years, is only now drawing to a close. The Cooks, unable to live in their own home or remove most of their possessions, had to rely on assistance from friends, family and Good Samaritans through their church. All the while, the family continued to pay the mortgage on the home.

For more, see Brown recluse spiders cause family to flee home, file lawsuit.

For earlier media reports (WRTV Channel 6) on this story, see:

• Family Seeks Refuge From Spider House,
• State To Review Insurer's Denial Of Family's Spider Claims.