Sinkhole Insurance - Cost / Coverage

[Tom C]

We are thinking of a move to The Villages but we are a bit spooked by the sinkholes and have no experience with sinkhole or ground subsidence insurance.

How much does this this type of insurance usually cost (annually)? What is usually NOT covered? Are there specialty companies that do this, or should I expect my existing insurance company (USAA) to be able to provide a competitive cost/coverage?

Thanks in advance! :wave:

[villagetinker]

Tom C, first nice avatar, now for your questions.

You house insurance will include catastrophic ground collapse coverage, basically (check for specifics with your agent), if the house is condemned, you are covered except for your deductible typically $500 or $1000.
If on the other hand you have a sinkhole that does NOT cause your house to be condemned, just damaged, you are on the hook for the costs unless you have sinkhole coverage. Ours has a deductible of 10% of the value of the house, so in our case we would be on the hook for around $30,000 with the rest of the repairs covered by the insurance. The cost is around $250 or $300 per year (I THINK).
Check with your insurance agent to see if they offer the additional coverage, many do not. If you really want it you may need to change or pick another insurance company. We went through AAA, and they provided this coverage.
Hope this helps.

[Chellybean]

try Debbie Thomas at Nathaniel Thomas State-farm agency on 301.
352-748-5272. Debbie was a underwriter for state farm and knows her stuff and is a nice lady.
You can get multi line discounts for auto, golf cart, homeowners.
Sinkhole is one you should have and i don't like 30k as a deductible so i went with 2% and sleep better.
I am not knocking Villagetinker he is a bright man, its all about what makes you sleep.
Good luck and give Debbie a call if she can put up with me on the phone an hour at a time for a week to be sure i am covered across the board properly she can put up with anyone.
Its all about Risk vs. Exposure vs. Cost. A little math for the VillageTinker!!! J:>)

[villagetinker]

ChellyBean, thanks for the tip, I do not recall the 2% deductible being an option, but will check that out.

[784caroline]

I am with USAA and have Sinkhole insurance, but as a new contract I dont think USAA will insure you directly...they will steer you to ASI ....which is not bad!

[ricthemic]

try Debbie Thomas at Nathaniel Thomas State-farm agency on 301.
352-748-5272. Debbie was a underwriter for state farm and knows her stuff and is a nice lady.
You can get multi line discounts for auto, golf cart, homeowners.
Sinkhole is one you should have and i don't like 30k as a deductible so i went with 2% and sleep better.
I am not knocking Villagetinker he is a bright man, its all about what makes you sleep.
Good luck and give Debbie a call if she can put up with me on the phone an hour at a time for a week to be sure i am covered across the board properly she can put up with anyone.
Its all about Risk vs. Exposure vs. Cost. A little math for the VillageTinker!!! J:>)

We heard what the 10% annual cost was. Could u tell us what the 2% cost is? Might help more sleep better

[Chellybean]

We heard what the 10% annual cost was. Could u tell us what the 2% cost is? Might help more sleep better

depends on house, area etc. and if you insure auto, golf cart and umbrella. call and they will quote you.

[Villageswimmer]

We purchased our previously owned house 1 year ago. At the time, ASI wouldn’t insure us despite our having been a 5 year customer in our previous TV home with no claims. We were told they had covered their maximum risks in our area. I think this changes day to day. Not sure but I think it’s a typical Insurance thing.

Anyway, since all our other policies are with State Farm, we contacted them. They wrote the policy and required a sinkhole inspection. I just pulled our policy since I wanted to be accurate here. Our sinkhole coverage carries a flat $5k deductible. Not too bad. Good, in fact.

That said, The homeowner policy was rather expensive...about $1300–much higher than we’ve ever paid before.

It becomes very difficult to compare policies with sinkhole and hurricane risks added and often comes down to comparing apples and oranges...like buying a mattress.

We did extensive research on SF and felt comfortable that they’d come through for us if we needed them.

We plan to shop around again next time. I’ve heard horror stories (rumors?) of them cancelling for no reason. Insurance has become a complicated mess.

I guess the upshot is: shop around and be sure to check insurance company ratings.

[Villageswimmer]

Forgot to add State Farm wouldn’t have required a sinkhole inspection had the home been 6 months or less old.

The inspection was no big deal. Our cost was $23 and it took about 15 minutes.

[GatorFan]

Allstate is offering sinkhole coverage with a deductible as low as $500. No inspection.

[rballruss]

Allstate is offering sinkhole coverage with a deductible as low as $500. No inspection.

We have Allstate and the $500 deductible for sinkhole coverage (catastrophic or not) but is very expensive. Choice we have chosen to make.

[Travelhunter]

Allstate gave me a $1000 deductible for sinkhole coverage while ASI was 10%
But the allstate hurrican deductible is 2% whereas ASI is $500
Both policies were very close in cost
I went with Allstate but could have went with ASI

[OhioBuckeye]

We purchased our previously owned house 1 year ago. At the time, ASI wouldn’t insure us despite our having been a 5 year customer in our previous TV home with no claims. We were told they had covered their maximum risks in our area. I think this changes day to day. Not sure but I think it’s a typical Insurance thing.

Anyway, since all our other policies are with State Farm, we contacted them. They wrote the policy and required a sinkhole inspection. I just pulled our policy since I wanted to be accurate here. Our sinkhole coverage carries a flat $5k deductible. Not too bad. Good, in fact.

That said, The homeowner policy was rather expensive...about $1300–much higher than we’ve ever paid before.

It becomes very difficult to compare policies with sinkhole and hurricane risks added and often comes down to comparing apples and oranges...like buying a mattress.

We did extensive research on SF and felt comfortable that they’d come through for us if we needed them.

We plan to shop around again next time. I’ve heard horror stories (rumors?) of them cancelling for no reason. Insurance has become a complicated mess.

I guess the upshot is: shop around and be sure to check insurance company ratings.

You know, when we first moved here I thought The Villages was going to be a dream come true & it is to a point. I guess after you live here for a few yrs. you learn the Pro's & Con's about the expenses & what they don't tell you. I think the biggest thing about moving here is, it's either cheap or you think it's so-so depending where you came from. Overall it's a great place to live!

[GaryKoca]

We have sinkhole insurance through ASI, and regular insurance with them also. Our insurer up North, Hartford, won't insure any house in Florida.

[Nancy Mandigo]

We were told that if our house was older than 2009, we could not get sinkhole insurannce. Ours was built in 1997, so we are out of luck.

[CindyNah1]

We were told that if our house was older than 2009, we could not get sinkhole insurannce. Ours was built in 1997, so we are out of luck.

Call the Villages Insurance and ask them to explain to you directly. I asked and they way they explained it made sense.

basically don't let that fear keep you from experiencing a totally wonderful Village life style ( moved here 2.5 yr ago from PA and haven't regretted a moment.)

[Villageswimmer]

You know, when we first moved here I thought The Villages was going to be a dream come true & it is to a point. I guess after you live here for a few yrs. you learn the Pro's & Con's about the expenses & what they don't tell you. I think the biggest thing about moving here is, it's either cheap or you think it's so-so depending where you came from. Overall it's a great place to live!


I don’t think there are necessarily things “they” don’t tell you. More often they just don’t know. More and more, insurance companies are quite unpredictable. It used to be you signed up with a company and stayed with them for 30-40 years. As I said, everything is more complicated now.

[kathysherry]

I belong to USAA and they would not give me homeowners insurance
here in The Villages so they referred me to Tower Hill, where I have my coverage.

[AlainZ]

Is it possible to get some kind of reading on the risk using sonar or some other technology that can "see" underground? There must be something leading edge science can offer to assess the specifics of your place - right?

[jj6426]

I have sink hole insurance and the cost is around an additional 200.00 What I don't like about it is that there's a $22,000. deductible. Hard to believe. I may shop around next time. (This is thru the Villages Insurance---and the company is Coastal Insurance)