Terminix Hit with $801,285 Fraud Award

$801,285.00 Fraud Award Against Terminix, Includes $450,000 in Punitive Damages; $643,000 More Than Terminix Claimed Should Be The Maximum Award

Mobile, Alabama. In a recent arbitration judgement in Mobile, Alabama, an elderly woman was awarded $450,000 in punitive damages against Terminix, bringing her total award against Terminix to over $800,000. The pest control giant had been faking her home’s termite prevention service for decades and then cheating her when she discovered termite damage.

Terminix continues to be hammered with punitive damages for its practice of faking termite treatments, performing sham inspections, and cheating customers when they seek to recover the damages caused by Terminix’s unethical, illegal acts.

Terminix knows full well that when small signs of infestation are found that the probable termite damage will require replacing walls from one end of a home to the other and from sill to attic. The company’s experts admit this scope of necessary repairs in one trial after another. However, when customers ask for repairs under their bonds, Terminix does a minor repair. If the customer knows that they have a larger claim, the company will offer a cash settlement if the customer agrees to cancel their coverage.

The Campbell Law PC termite lawyer explains, “This is a scam because it transfers the risk from Terminix to the customer. The reason Terminix does this is because they get away with it when the customer does not have a lawyer.” Terminix performed an internal study that revealed it spends an average of a million dollars for claims that we handle and only $15,000 to $17,000 when customers represent themselves. Even though the team at Campbell Law PC are proud of our ability to help, this shows how much so many customers are being cheated everyday – and that is heartbreaking.

In this most recent case, the arbitrator found that Terminix’s routine practice was to perform incomplete termite treatments, which Terminix knew ‘left gaps in any barrier’ and that these ‘gaps in the barrier meant an infestation was likely.’

To make matters worse, according to the arbitrator’s findings, “Terminix withheld documents from [its annual inspectors], which made it difficult, if not impossible, to know when a home was treated, what chemicals were used, where the chemicals were applied (and thus where not applied) and how much, if any, was used. [Terminix did this] knowing it had told [the Claimant] that it would and had applied any chemicals necessary to protect her home… Terminix suppressed from [the Claimant] that no comprehensive treatment was ever performed and that no true fix was ever made.’” The arbitrator then held that “[b]y any test, the conduct described above compels an award of punitive damages.”

The punitive damages award against Terminix was approximately 1.3 times more than the client’s compensatory damages award.

The termite team is pleased that the arbitrator awarded more in punitive damages than compensatory damages, because it sends a clear message to Terminix: that Terminix bad acts are deserving of punishment. Equally important, the arbitrator in this case is without any dispute well-respected by the entire bench and bar. This is the case over and over for Terminix when Campbell Law faces Terminix in arbitration—respected former judges and prominent attorneys find Terminix’s conduct to be deserving of punishment. While we hate what Terminix did to our client, we are glad the arbitrator’s award validated the harm they caused to her.

If you think you may be the victim of misconduct by your termite prevention company, contact us at www.TermiteTom.com.