ISLE OF WIGHT, Va. — It's been nearly two weeks since a fire ravaged a warehouse in Isle of Wight county leaving 13 business owners with nothing.
David Stuart, who owns Stuart's Marine, called 911 the morning of January 18.
“Next thing we knew the office, the bathroom just burst into flames from the heat, the heat was just ridiculous, it melted aluminum into puddles on the floor, it destroyed everything,” said Stuart.
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A local state of emergency was declared while crews battled the blaze for possible hazardous materials in the air. The fire was ruled accidental.
Stuart didn't have insurance.
“The few companies we looked at were just way ridiculous as far as pricing, we just couldn’t afford that,” said Stuart.
Erik Fink with Fink Insurance Agency told News 3 there are a number of factors that go into business insurance.
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“Every client or every business has a different rating, some ratings are going to be more difficult than others, so to find insurance it could be really expensive to get it,” said Fink.
There's general liability and business owner's policy (BOP) but Fink said it's dependent on your business and how risky it is.
“There’s not a one size fits all policy, for everybody across the board,” said Fink.
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He also said there is no legal requirement for a business to have commercial insurance, leaving people like Stuart with nothing after a tragedy.
“Just trying to pick up the pieces and work our way through this,” said Stuart.
To see more on Stuart's plans to rebuild, click here.
