Insurance company files lawsuit against Columbus Municipal School District

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – A dispute over money for building repairs led to a lawsuit being filed against the Columbus Municipal School District.

Middlesex Insurance Company, which is out of Wisconsin, filed the suit and said it involves the insurance policy at Hunt Intermediate School.

This all stemmed from the damage Hunt received during the 2019 tornado.

In the complaint, Middlesex said they have paid the district around $3.6 million in damages, and they’re claiming CMSD is not entitled to any additional coverage.

The district was trying to get coverage on three buildings that were damaged, and claimed repairs will cost roughly $14 million dollars.

However, the insurance company believed it’ll only take around $4.8 million.

Middlesex has also paid CMSD $100,000 since it was forced to move out of one of its buildings.

The district claimed that wasn’t enough to cover expenses.

The lawsuit also accused the school district of not turning in all of the paperwork to support its claims.

Board attorney Chris Hemphill said they’re still working with MEMA and FEMA on estimates.

Once they finish up, Hemphill said then they will be able to provide the insurance company all of the necessary documents.

“We hired an architect and then we will be starting the bidding process within the next probably seven days,” said Hemphill. “The publication for bids will start and we hope to have the bids by mid April, and then we will know a lot more about where things stand.”

The Hunt Museum was also damaged in that storm.

However, it was not covered under this insurance policy.

As of now Hemphill said CMSD has not been served.

WCBI will bring you more updates on this story as it continues to develop.