Court: $1M Available for Connecticut Fire Victims’ Families

The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that families suing a Hartford nursing home where 16 patients died in a 2003 fire can share up to $1 million from the home’s insurance policy, if they win their lawsuits.

The court released a 3-2 decision Monday in favor of Boston-based Lexington Insurance Co., a subsidiary of American International Group Inc.

Lexington was the insurer for Greenwood Health Center, where a psychiatric patient started the fire with a cigarette lighter.

The victims’ families argued that Greenwood’s insurance policy provided up to $10 million in coverage. But Lexington Insurance argued the $10 million was for all seven nursing homes owned by Greenwood’s owner and each location was insured to up to $1 million.

A lawyer for one victim’s family calls the $1 million inadequate.