Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Home Owners Insurance Rates
View Single Post
 
Old 02-13-2012, 10:56 PM
784caroline 784caroline is offline
Soaring Eagle member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,436
Thanks: 0
Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts
Default

There are two types of Sinkhole coverage and you really need to know what you have in your policy. All Florida policies will have catastropic ground cover collapse coverage with the typical deductible at what ever your all perils deductible is for your policy. Most are written at either $500 or $1000 deductible. This insurance kicks in when your house is ordered to be vacated by government authority and at the point of being condemed. Alot of people assume this type of coverage to be "sinkhole insurance" but its all in the definitional terms.

The Issue before us that is causing the high insurance rate increases deals with 'Sinkhole loss" which is defined as the gradual movement of earth supporting your property(or sinkhole activity) and typically idenitifed with cracks in the wallls or foundations, or doors and windows cannot open properly. This is the so called "Minor" sinkhole loss but believe me if you need repairs for this type of damage it is very expensive. This type of damage does not get the front page newspaper reports and your house is not typicaly ordered to be vacated by a government authority.

Do not confuse Catastropic Ground Cover Collapse as being sinkhole insurance that covers gradual movement of earth supporting your property. They are totaly different in what they cover and their cost and deductibles. To make many policies affordable for sinkhole coverage that includes "gradual earth movement" companies are starting to impose a 10% deductible on such coverage. For a home valued at $300,000 and insured for $250,000 (no land), your deductible (OR YOUR OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE) would be $25,000 before the insurance company would start paying. This makes the hurricane deductible at 2% seem like a bargain.