Posted: Jul 09, 2015 3:23 PM EST
By Linda Harris, Legal Reporter
Three South Charleston hotels that lost money because of the January 2014 chemical spill in the Elk River are suing Travelers and Charter Oak Fire Insurance for denying their claims.
The suit originally was filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court, but Travelers and Charter Oak want it moved to federal court in Charleston.
The hotels — Hospitality Ventures LLC (Hampton Inn-Southgate); Capitol Hotel Group and E&G Inc. (Holiday Inn & Suites); and Allied Hosts LLC (Wingate Inn) as well as Monarch Holdings LLC, which has an ownership stake in all three properties — said they suffered substantial damages as a result of the chemical spill, which contaminated the water supply for several hundred thousand customers in a nine-county swathe of southern West Virginia.
The spill exposed water supply systems in the three hotels to “poisonous and toxic” chemicals, damaging water storage facilities, fixtures, pipes, toilets, drains, sinks, swimming pools and other areas, they said.
Monarch insists the damages should be covered under their insurance policy, written by Travelers and Charter Oaks in September 2013, but the claims were denied “despite multiple requests for coverage and payment of damages.”
The suit seeks a ruling that the damages and losses were covered by the policy, along with compensatory and exemplary damages to cover damages, including lost business, and clean-up costs.