Hector Medina and Amy Schultz were in the carpet cleaning business for seven months.
"We're out of work right now," said Medina.
The weekend of July 19, their carpet cleaning van was stolen and stripped of its equipment, turning their dream of small business ownership into an insurance nightmare.
"It took me about four years to put everything together," said Medina.
In November, Medina purchased insurance for his business. His partner Amy Schultz said they have a large liability policy.
"It is a million dollar coverage for the business, but the van itself is part of the business...," she said. "The coverage on it we thought was 20-thousand, it is a million dollar liability policy."
On the vehicle, the policy is $20,000. But on the insurance form, they checked the "no" box under "attached equipment," so the van's contents are not covered.
Medina said he was told the contents of his business vehicle were covered, and now he is being told they are not. "The only thing covered is damage to the van and that's pretty much it," he said.
Police are investigating, but in the meantime APSCO carpet cleaning has canceled several contracts while they try to determine if the agent made an error or if they made a bad decision.
"I would say that the lesson (to other business owners) would be to double, triple check; don't rely on the other person's knowledge as to what they might know," said Medina.
Travis Hunter, an insurance agent, said this is not a mistake and therefore it is not covered under the agents "Error and Omission" policy. "He wanted to buy as low as you can, and he needed to buy the package. He chose to buy the lowest coverage," said Hunter.
Insurance expert David Miller of Brightway said business owners need to follow these steps when insurance shopping:
- Determine your needs
- Assess your exposure
- If you operate a business like a plumber or carpet cleaner, you will need an "Artisan" package policy.
- If it is a building, you will need a business owner policy.