tv sinkholes
 

there is an article and picture in my paper here in connecticut today of a huge sinkhole in the orlando area consuming a whole building. what are the odds of that happening in tv? can you get insurance for this? thank you.

The type of sinkhole that took up part of a resort complex in Clermont is called a catastrophic ground collapse. If that happens on your property and all or part of your house is swallowed up, your homeowners insurance will cover it.

If the sinkhole is gradual and cracks your foundation and walls gradually, you will be covered only if you have the separate sinkhole coverage option. The companies offering it are few and far between. You may get it but the deductible will usually be 10% of the home value.

Could it happen in The Villages? Dang, who knows? All of Florida is located over limestone karst and when the underground sand collapses or is washed away, the holes do appear.

Happens every year in The Villages.
Especially after a very dry winter, followed by a wet summer.
LIKE NOW!
:pray:
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There was a small one this week that closed the 4th green on Havana's Kilimanjaro golf course. There have been several sinkholes in TV over the past few years and a large one nearby in Leesburg that swallowed a parking lot near 441/27.

have the several sinkholes affected homes in tv or are they out in fields?

Overdevelopment widens Florida sinkhole problem - NBC News.com


This recent article claims that all the overdevelopment, such as is going on in The Villages, is causing an overabundance of sinkholes in Florida.

About 10 years ago a sinkhole emptied all of the water from a large pond on the Briarwood executive course. Because the deeds of the facing residents said they had waterfront property, The Villages was required to fill the sinkhole and line the pond with plastic before refilling it. It happened again and was repaired again. The pond has remained stable since the second repair. My understanding is that deeds no longer carry the "waterfront property" designation. Since then there have been at least two Villages homes I am aware of which have sustained minor damage. One damaged some lawn and a patio. The other did some wall damage. Neither incident was considered very serious, and I doubt the homeowners got much help for the problems even if they had sinkhole insurance. If you can find a company to write a policy the deductibles are high. If a home is declared a total loss, I believe it is state law that full insurance coverage must apply.

We live in the villages and had a sinkhole in our front yard. Only minor damage to our house but have seen others here that have had more significant damage. Fortunately, we had sinkhole insurance with a $500 deductible. The amount of surveying and work done to our lot was incredible and I feel that our lot is the most stable in our neighborhood. It's a scary situation to go through!

Do you have to reveal when you sell your home that you once had sink hole damage?

I think the declaration statement will lead you to have to reveal it.....why not?

btk

I don't think that I would ever buy a home knowing that it once had a sink hole.

Sink holes are not caused by development. "Google" SINK. HOLES IN FLORIDA. The Florida geological survey has excellent web sites explaining exactly how sink holes occur. They also have a published map for the state showing each county and portions. The map is color coded to show the risk of sinkholes and the type. Sumter county is reasonably safe, but no area is completely safe. Remember "reasonably" is "relative".

Never buy a home if it had a sinkhole? Better read up on it. If the sink hole was repaired, meaning it was preferable, then the likelihood of further damage is far less than in other places. It is extremely expensive to repair sinkhole damage, but it is thorough.

I agree, but in reality, I think most folks would just turn and run. I think you would have a hard time recouping the true value of your home. People are not well educated in sink holes, and overall stability of their property after the repair.

Agreed
 

We went to an open house and the agent was trying to down play the fact that there was sinkhole damage to the foundation. As soon as I heard that I turned around and followed the other three couples out the door before we even looked at the rest of the house. The agent wasn't hiding it though and I am sure it was because of disclosure laws.

Here is a link to some good maps of the limestone structure and sinkholes in Florida. Google Image Result for http://www.insurancejournal.com/img/articles/fl-sinkhole-map.jpg

This is a short but informative article about a company that fixes sinkholes, how many are appearing and where, many in Central Florida, Sinkhole Alley as it is known. http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...er-uppers.html

No conscience just the law
 

Goes back to the same old thing buyer beware when it comes to a dollar bill

There is probably more real danger from a lightning strike.
 

I am beginning to get "big dips" in the soil on my side lawn.... scary....
I am waiting to see if anything happens, or if it is a natural erosion problem..
Karron

Bogie, who knows everything will give you a link or tell you who to call. I would start by calling warranty, they know everything and know the right contacts.

Just remember that all natural settling is not sinkholes.

Yes. There is a rather lengthy document you must fill out when you sell that asks about all problems with the home you are selling.

Yes you can get sinkhole insurance, i have it with a large deductible.
Since i have been in The Villages, there have been many, dozens, even the Moffett center is on a sinkhole. Many of the retention ponds, have gone dry overnight.

I currently live in Palm Beach County where sinkholes are relatively unheard of. However we are giving serious consideration to moving to TV in the very near future and sinkholes are a serious consideration for us because insurance coverage is practically non existent any longer and if you can get it at all the copay deductibles are out of sight and getting worse. Yes you will be covered under Florida law for what is considered catastrophic ground collapse but that requires that the house be declared unlivable and condemned as a result and I believe that the deductibles still apply.
If you want to know more there is a lot of information available if you go to - myflorida.gov - where you will find numerous articles as well as sinkhole maps of Florida by county. There is also a listing of the 10 worst counties in the state for sinkholes, of the counties covered by TV only Sumter is not in the top ten, and advice as to how to at least try to minimize your susceptibility to them one suggestion is that the farther your house is from any kind of water feature the less the risk but personally I wouldn't count on that to much.
Everything in life is pretty much of a gamble unfortunately sinkholes is just one more and we all have to weigh the odds of whether the risk is outweighed by the lifestyle. Personally I am not any kind of a gambler but the more I learn about TV lifestyle the more I am convinced to give it a shot.

The government experts disagree with your statement about development not causing sinkholes. On page 3 of its booklest, cleverly titled "Sinkholes", the Southwest Florida Water Management District states: "Increased numbers of sinkholes can generally be attributed to changing or loading of the earth's surface with development such as retention ponds, buildings, changes in drainage patterns, heavy traffic, drilling vibration or sudden or gradual decline in groundwater levels....Urban construction, coupled with limestone depths of less than 200 feet, contributes to many of the modern sinkholes." This would seem to be common sense.

Apparently, it is now next to impossible to get sinkhole coverage in The Villages when you purchase a preowned home, but I understand that you can still get it, with a large deductible (10% of the dwelling value) on new homes. Many of us are grandfathered into existing policies, but our deductible has been raised to the 10% level. Who knows how much longer even this coverage will contine to be available. This subject is something to think about when you decide how much you want to invest in a home.

I was informed by an insurance agent that it is hard to get sinkhole coverage with a low deductible because many people put in claims for any cracks in and around their homes and claimed it was a sinkhole problem.

I got the castrophic coverage only but it's better than nothing. I don't tend to worry about things I cannot control.

This allows people to think that the difficulty in getting sinkhole insurance is limited to The Villages, when in truth the difficulty is state wide. As you can see here this law firm refers to two other counties and it is because the insurance industry has been overwhelmed with a lot of claims, some of them for real damage so that sinkhole insurance is now as scarce as hen's teeth..

The Saga of Sinkhole Insurance in Florida - Law Firm Williams Law Association, P.A. Attorneys Tampa, Florida

I have a TV sinkhole; its called my new house.
You move in then the sinkhole begins and swallows your money.
I love my sinkhole.:a040:

Yet, based upon a recent poll, almost half of TOTV respondents actually favor more development.

This thread is entitled "tv sinkholes", but the sinkhole problem and unavailability of insurance are not unique to The Villages.

Florida's insurance law changed effective 1/1/2013 which makes getting "sinkhole" coverage almost impossible ANYWHERE in Florida. Yes..there are exceptions just like buying a brandy-new home in TV, but many who were "grandfathered" are finding that either their carrier will not renew their coverage when it comes due or that the carrier has applied a VERY significant deductible if you want to renew.

If you are a NEW Florida home-buyer and you are buying a resale home you have about as much chance of getting it as John Glenn has of going on another space mission.

It is also worth repeating that "sinkhole" and "Catastrophic Ground Collapse" insurance are NOT the same thing. ALL Florida HO policies are REQUIRED to provide Catastrophic Ground Collapse riders.

sinkhole insurance
 

I just got sinkhole insurance through AAA. New homes only $500 deductible. Or 2% the difference in price was minimal believe it or not. I got the $500.

Why are the new homes easier to get coverage than resales? Have they built the new homes with sinkholes in mind, and built them up so maybe they are safer?

Wondering if sinkholes is reason enough to not come to TV, had planned it in the next 4 years. Now I am scared! Any suggestions, ideas, help? Thanks so much.

If you won't come to TV because of sinkholes, then don't come to Florida. The geology is statewide.

Sinkhole in Dunedin, FL
 

This was on the news earlier this evening. 2 houses likely lost because of Florida sinkhole

Minneapolis:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clP7vN6D0W4]Giant Sinkhole Midwest Keeps Growing Minneapolis Minnesota ! - YouTube[/ame]

Iowa: I-80 at MO River, Council Bluffs:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGIDHxjT8fA]Crews fix Interstate 80 sinkhole - YouTube[/ame]

Brooklyn, NY....
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqAhXI6w9kY]20x20 Ft. Sink Hole in Brooklyn, NY - YouTube[/ame]

Dunedin, one homeowner had been working with insurance 2 years
 

Unless I missed it I did not notice or hear anywhere that one of the home owners in Dunedin had been in negotiations with his insurance carrier trying to get repairs for 2 years or so before the recent cave in.

The owner of one of the condemned homes says there were signs two years ago that a sinkhole was growing underneath his house


Link for the story:

Florida homeowner fought with insurance company for TWO YEARS trying to get sinkhole repairs | Mail Online

Can't imagine the fear of getting up and seeing your home falling into a hugh hole, and rushing to get your family and belongings out. I sure wish the homeowners the best in getting their lives back together.

I just dropped our grandson off at his home and it's a neighboring community to where we live. There was a detour and a road was closed. It was a sink hole in the road. There have been so many sink holes in this area there is a bar called The Sink Hole. We're in PA.

I can't imagine having your home sucked up and disappear with all your belongings. The reality is there are sink holes in many states, there are probably areas that have sink holes yet to be determined, and that can't determine how or where we live. I refuse to live in a bubble. Life is simply too short.

Ya'll in Sinking Valley, PA?