Sinkholes in Florida
 

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/g...ole_poster.pdf

Ever wonder if you should get sinkhole insurance? Take a look at this link. There's a horrible story in today's news of a man swallowed in a sinkhole that opened under his bedroom.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS from CNN at Sinkholes: common, costly and sometimes deadly - CNN.com

Central Florida is particularly known for sinkholes
The state lies on limestone bedrock and often sees the phenomenon
Florida property owners filed 24,671 claims for sinkhole damage from 2006 to 2010
Florida sinkhole claims cost insurers $1.4 billion in that period, state Senate report says

Florida is not the only state with this issue. Sinkholes, from USGS Water-Science School

Here is a quote from the article "The most damage from sinkholes tends to occur in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania"

Again, what happen today as reported in the newspaper is a Catastrophic sinkhole...and all homeowner polices in Florida would be covered for this event.

This is entirely different than a gradual detoriation or settlement causing foundation cracks...the type of Sinkhole insurance being denied to most people.

Kitty you should get and are eligible to get sinkhole ins before you close, it is only available on new builds, by that I mean complete sinkhole not catastrophic.

Kitty-Jimbo is correct. I also got sinkhole insurance as well as the catastrophic. But to put your mind at ease somewhat, no sinkholes have been reported in our immediate area either. Better safe than sorry as the old adage goes!

There was another thread reporting about this unfortuate man. Amazingly, the house itself was standing and the hole was inside the house.

I think it's a prudent idea to get sinkhole coverage.

I was told the same thing and from what I understand this settlement, we had several neighbors that had this "settling" issue.

This is a picture I took about a year ago of a sinkhole that opened up behind Cane Gardens.

Well these figures say alot and explains why Florida insurers hiccuped over this coverage issue. I wonder just how many of those 24, 671 claims were actually for sink hole vis a vis normal settling and cracking which is more common? Well the catrostrophic coverage now answers that question for both the homeowner and the insurer

Plus with the changes in actual sinkhole coverage there is now a 10% deductible on most if not all sinkhole policies and that 10% represents the value of the home not the cost to repair. Also the proceeds from the insurance must now be used to repair the home, unless you or your legal rep. negotiate the settlement with the insurance company then you don't legally have to use it to repair. What happened in the past is that many homeowners would get cracks and some settling of the home file a claim get the cost of remediating a sinkhole (could be $100K plus) pocket the money and not repair the "damage" and continue to live in the home.

KY, TN & PA "sinkholes" are more closely tied to coal mine subsidence. In fact on our PA home we carried state-sponsored mine subsidence insurance. Very inexpensive, but quite worth the investment.

When we bought down here our insurance agent at Villages Insurance told us as that by FL law as of 1/1/2012 sinkhole insurance was no longer part & parcel of your homeowner's policy for NEW customers. If you were buying a NEW policy you would have to have an inspection of your property PRIOR to a sinkhole policy being written. After the inspection report was filed your insurance carrier would then decide as to whether or not they would cover you. She warned us that no matter how good our inspection was our chance of getting a sinkhole policy was less than winning the Powerball twice in one day and getting hit by lightning when you're walking out the door with your winnings! LOL. We closed in November and she said that she hadn't had a sinkhole policy being approved for a pre-owned home yet that year.

She did tell us that in TV in Sumter county..IF..and only IF..you bought a brandy-new house that had NEVER been lived in, then she could get a sinkhole policy through one carrier, but it carried a 20-30% deductible.

We had a good inspection on our home and true to form we were denied sinkhole coverage. If you've got it..KEEP IT..If you dropped it, you most likely cannot get it back.

So if you owned the house in Sunset Pointe that is pictured in post #9, you would have to pay to have the hole filled in, which I understand from other threads could cost thousands of dollars.

The owner moved out and is trying to sell it, but it's doubtful a buyer could get a mortgage and insurance.

Does your sink hole ins. cover loss of life???

That would be.............wait for it..................life insurance.