Insurer scores win in collapsed pool case

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One of three companies being sued by the Mitchell Aquatic Club’s insurance company has been ordered to pay about $50,000 for damages related to a collapsed pool.

District Judge Tim Bjorkman entered a judgment against Seaman Corp. on Nov. 22, according to court documents. Seaman Corp., of Wooster, Ohio, makes liner material used in pools such as the collapsed MAC pool.

Seaman Corp. had not filed an answer, motion or appearance in response to a summons, complaint and amended complaint filed earlier this fall by Nautilus Insurance Company, of Scottsdale, Ariz.

After a portable indoor pool collapsed in 2010 at the MAC’s North Main Street facility — sending 85,000 gallons of water rushing into neighboring businesses — Nautilus Insurance paid the club for damages amounting to $40,405.70. The club paid a $1,000 deductible.

Unless Seaman Corp. files a successful motion to set aside the default judgment, it will have to pay $41,405.70 plus a prejudgment interest rate of 10 percent per year from Feb. 28, 2010, to Nov. 22, 2011, according to court records. Neither the Davison County Clerk of Courts Office nor an attorney for Nautilus was able to provide a total amount of interest or say exactly how the interest will be calculated when asked Monday by The Daily Republic.

The judgment also allows Nautilus to recover $6,708 for the cost of storing the damaged pool.

Legal proceedings related to the two other defendants in the case — EZ Pool Products Inc. and Artistic Coverings Inc., both of California — are still pending.

EZ Pool Products filed a response Nov. 21 denying the allegations made against the company. In October, Artistic Coverings filed a motion to dismiss the company from the case.

Tags: aquatic center, news, local, mitchell, insurance, pool, courts, lwsuit