The billionaire heir to the Loews fortune who now serves as CEO of the company and his wife are named in a lawsuit filed against New York City by their insurance company after sewage flooded their home.
James and Merryl Tisch are namechecked in the complaint filed Monday in New York Supreme Court by Chubb Indemnity Insurance.
The couple claim that their home at 926 Fifth Avenue – which they paid $21 million for a 49-year lease on in addition to $37,500 in rent each month – became a toxic swamp due to the city’s mismanagement of the sewer system.
As a result, Chubb has been forced to settle $1,891,937.80 worth of claims filed by the pair.
A family spokesman told DailyMail.com: ‘The Tisches are not suing the City. They have no knowledge of this lawsuit which is between Chubb and the City of New York.’
Lucky for the couple, they had purchased a $32 million apartment just down the street shortly before their Beaux Arts mansion turned into a latrine.
S*** hits the fan: Chubb Indemnity Insurance (above in 2012) have filed a lawsuit against the City of New York after sewage flooded and James and Merryl Tisch’s townhouse
Location: The couple paid $21 million for a 49-year lease at 926 Fifth Avenue (townhouse on left), where they also pay $37,500 in rent each month
‘On or about October 29, 2017, the Plaintiff’s Insureds discovered a sewage back-up in their basement and sub-basement,’ reads the complaint filed on Monday.
‘Thereafter, the Plaintiff’s Insureds submitted a claim for damages to CHUBB pursuant to its policy of insurance [redacted] issued by CHUBB regarding said premises and property.’
It continues: ‘Thereafter, CHUBB, paid the claim in the sum of $1,891,937.80 to date, and became subrogated to the rights of the Plaintiff’s Insureds against the defendants.’
The Department of Environmental Protection is also listed as a defendant in the case in addition to the City of New York.
It is stated that in addition to mismanaging the sewer system and causing the basement to flood, the defendants also failed to warn the couple or address the matter in a timely fashion claims the filing.
This complaint was filed after the defendants refused to cover any of the claim amount when sent the document by CHUBB more than a year ago according to the court filing.
New digs: A year prior to the flooding of their house in 2017, the couple had paid $32 million for an apartment just a few blocks away (interior of couple’s Fifth Avenue apartment)
Dry land: The complaint demands that city cover some of the $1,891,937.80 worth of claims filed by the pair in the wake of sewage flooding their basement (Tisches apartment above)
Lifestyles of the rich and famous: He and Merryl, who was formerly the Chancellor for the New York State Board of Regents, also own a $15million compound in upstate New York (above)
‘On or about December 1, 2017, plaintiffs file a Notice of Claim in writing, sworn to by an officer of plaintiffs containing the name and address of claimants, the nature of the claim, the time when, the place where and the manner in which the claim arose and an item of damages claimed to have been sustained, so far as then practicable, in compliance with the General Municipal Law,’ reads the complaint.
‘Defendants have failed to adjust the claim and make payment to the Plaintiffs.’
As luck should have it, the Tisches had purchased the $32 million apaprtment previously owned by Edgar Bronfman in the building where Jackie Onasis lived during her final years a year before the plumbing of their property.
The five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom co-op sits just across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is on the tenth floor, far above the city’s sewer system.
There is no word in the lawsuit about how things are going at the couple’s five-floor, 12,000sqft townhouse, which was built at the turn of the 20th century.
James, who is also a partial owner of the New York Giants, and Merryl, who was formerly the Chancellor for the New York State Board of Regents, also own a $15million compound in upstate New York.