Texas State Officials Investigating Tower Insurance Dispute

KSMQ in Austin, Texas is seeking help from the state Department of Commerce with an insurance dispute over the public television station’s broadcast tower, which fell during a severe thunderstorm almost two years ago. The tower collapsed on September 5, 2012 during a storm when the wind caused the tower’s anchor to come partially loose. KSMQ President and CEO Eric Olson said the station’s tower was insured through Hanover Insurance when it fell and the Hanover Insurance representatives inspected the site a week after the storm and Olsen believed the company would pay the $620,000 claim to help them put up a new tower. Hanover Insurance denied the claim in October 2012. According to the Austin Daily Herald, “At issue is the way the tower fell. The loose anchor was only partially removed from the ground during the storm. Olson and KSMQ charge that high-line winds caused the tower to fall and the anchor to come loose. Yet Hanover representatives said the anchor in question was largely corroded. A Hanover spokesperson said an engineering firm’s report indicated the anchor was badly corroded for most of its length and broke off during the storm. The insurance company’s expert suggested this corrosion would have been noticeable for at least the past 10 years, according to the spokesperson.” Olson and other experts didn’t agree with the insurance company and found that the corrosion would have been about two feet below the ground. However, KSMQ’s insurance contract doesn’t cover corrosion. A state investigator was in Austin Friday to tour the site as part of the department’s investigation into the dispute. The station has lost thousands of dollars in revenue for its $1.4 million annual budget because of the dispute, including rent money they received from AT&T since the carrier has since built a new tower and will no longer rent space from KSMQ in the future.