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Council committee approves $113,875.98 settlement for property damage; Metro Law explains claims process and payment of HELOC interest
Summary
The committee approved a resolution authorizing settlement of a property damage claim by Pam Spooner for $113,875.98 to be paid from the self‑insured liability fund. Metro Law and claims staff described delays in billing, depreciation rules for damages, the department's efforts to reach the resident promptly, payment of HELOC interest to hold the
The Finance Committee approved a resolution authorizing the Department of Law to settle a property damage claim by Pam Spooner for $113,875.98, with payment to be made from the self‑insured liability fund.
Councilwoman Evans asked questions about the claims process and how claims that clearly arise from Metro infrastructure are handled. Laura Fox of the Department of Law explained that the claim dated from a sewer backup and that Metro's claims representative reached out to the resident within 24–48 hours to request bills. Fox said the incident occurred in January and that the remediation bills were received in April; because Metro pays depreciated value for damaged items, there was a valuation disagreement that required additional legal review and caused delay.
To address hardship caused by the delay, Metro Law said the department agreed to pay the interest on the claimant's home equity line of credit so the resident would not be financially harmed by the timeline. Fox also said Metro Water repaired the broken main and installed a backflow preventer at the resident's house to reduce the risk of recurrence.
The committee approved the settlement; members were told the Law Department will continue to review processes and that an additional claims position has been approved to help reduce future delays.
What happens next: Metro will issue the settlement payment from the self‑insured liability fund and continue administrative improvements to reduce claims processing time and communicate options to residents.
