Fred’s Propane has offered to reimburse customers who they earlier charged for a replacement tank, even if your insurance covered it. See attachment for how to obtain a refund. The deadline is September 30, 2012.

Many thanks to the efforts of David Barnett (Fourmile fire resident) and Cynthia Taylor (Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, Consumer Division) for bringing this issue to everyone’s attention.

Garry
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Below is the email I sent 4/5/12 from David Barnett:

TO: Fourmile Canyon Fire Residents who are customers of Fred’s Propane
FROM: David Barnett (Fourmile fire resident) and Cynthia Taylor (Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, Consumer Division)

Soon after the Fourmile Fire, customers of Fred’s Propane whose leased tanks were damaged by the fire were billed for the full replacement cost of the tanks. My lease with Fred’s, which I saved from the fire, did not specify that I was responsible for paying for the tank in the event of loss by fire. The tanks were owned and insured by Fred’s. The tanks were originally purchased by Fred’s at wholesale prices far below the amount Fred’s billed to customers after the fire.

Even though I claimed the billed amount on my contents portion of my insurance, I still ended up paying for this, since I maxed out my contents policy before I was able to claim all my losses, so I could have claimed additional amounts had Fred’s not billed me.

In my own case, the leased tank was never replaced. Rather, I bought a new tank at full price from Fred’s. Moreover, the tanks that were damaged in the fire had depreciated in value over time, and this depreciation was not considered by Fred’s. And of course the damaged tanks still had value for their scrap metal; whether Fred’s has collected money for this metal I do not know.

I called Fred’s recently and they were not willing to consider refunding any of the charges. The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office is interested in knowing whether others in my position would like to come forward with complaints.

You can also email me (david.barnett@nullcolorado.edu) or Cynthia Taylor (ctaylor@nullbouldercounty.org) with comments or questions.

Thank you,
David Barnett
303-748-2034