KENTON, Ohio — Liberty Mutual Insurance has filed a suit in federal court against Ohio State Rep. Jon Cross and his wife Christina Cross.
This comes after the couple lost their Kenton home in a house fire in August.
Rep. Jon Cross, a Republican, represents District 83, which includes parts of Findlay.
The Cross' were sent a letter by the company in September after they did their own investigation.
It stated that after their investigation, they found that the couple did $300,000 worth of extensive upgrades and remodeling starting in March.
The house was worth $245,000 when the Cross' first bought it in 2014.
Liberty Mutual requires a 90-day notice of any updates that would increase the home value by more than $5,000 and that didn't happen according to the insurance company.
The lawsuit does not provide the value of the insurance claim submitted by the Cross family.
The policy limit is $634,390.40 and with the improvement, Liberty Mutual is arguing they aren't responsible for paying more than that limit according to the documents.
Cross' attorneys sent WTOL 11 this statement:
"My wife and I are involved in an insurance coverage dispute regarding a claim we filed under our homeowner’s policy seeking to be reimbursed for fire damage to our home. The dispute is over whether certain items may be reimbursable under our policy or not. These sorts of insurance coverage disputes are common, and the matter has nothing to do with my responsibilities as a public official.
We strongly disagree with the position taken by our insurance company, and we intend to vigorously litigate this matter and recover all that we are entitled to under our policy and other available relief. This has also been a good lesson to us about how an insurance company can take advantage of a policy holder, denying a claim even though premiums have been paid in full. We look forward to our day in court. Under the advice of my counsel, I will not be making any further comment about this litigation until it is resolved by the court.”
The Cross' also purchased a home in September worth almost $800,000 according to local property records.
The state fire marshal investigated the fire and the cause of it is undetermined.
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