Insurer sues over false alarm
By SSN Staff
Updated Fri December 28, 2012
BATON ROUGE, La.—An insurer that paid out in excess of $2 million following a restaurant fire caused by arson last year is suing the businesses that installed the restaurant's alarm system and phone line to the system, according to an article from The Advocate, a newspaper based here.
Transportation Insurance Co., which paid Mike Anderson's Seafood Restaurant more than $2 million after the December 2011 fire, alleges Custom Security Systems failed to monitor the security system, which included both a fire alarm and motion and glass break detectors. They also claim Gage Telephone Systems installed a faulty phone line.
Gage denies the charges, the newspaper said. It said a Custom official declined to comment on the advice of the company's lawyer.
The lawsuit was filed Dec. 4 in state district court here. The suit charges that if Custom Security had notified authorities when the fire alarm initially sounded, damage to the restaurant would have been far less severe.
The lawsuit seeks damages that include the more than $2 million that Transportation paid the restaurant owners, plus attorneys' fees.
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