[conn8757]

I am a new buyer and am getting my homeowners through the Villages insurance. My quote without sinkhole coverage $450 for $500 deductible on a HO3 - with sinkhole coverage (which I am getting) is $614 for everything. The sinkhole coverage will have a $500 deductible like everything but the hurricanes which is 2% of the dwelling. I am insuring a Lily.

[SteveFromNY]

Sounds worth it to me. I have the coverage on mine as well.

[Army Guy]

How common are they? Are there specific areas of TV more apt for this to happen? We are on a top of a hill in Bonita.

Army Guy

[rshoffer]

I have only been here a year. I am aware of at least 1 family that had extreme damage/high expense sinkhole damage...I wonder if there is a central recording agency to get data on how many report home damage due to sinkholes. I ride my bike everywhere in TV and after the recent week of severe rain I saw mini sinkholes popping up many places.... usually only a few feet across...eg, there was 1 on the cart path at Buena Vista near Bonita Blvd. I golfed yesterday at Lopez... WOW, that's a big one there. I think it would be a good project for the POA to do an article on the sinkhole issue, identify areas that have a high prevalence etc. I didn't get the ins....reason:I knew absolutely nothing of the sinkhole issue when we bought our home.

[texasfal]

Buy the insurance. I saw a garage in a sinkhole last summer when I was playing the Churchill Greens golf course. Scared the *%$^ out of me. The homeowners were outside and we talked to them and they were sooo glad they had the insurance.

[chuckster]

Following is an informative link to florida sinkholes. Well worth reading in its entirety.

http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/sinkholes.html

[Aceskaters]

you need to differentiate...there are naturally occuring sinkholes in Florida because there is limestone (think dry sponge) under the ground. But, then there are man-induced sinkholes due to the considerable amount of dirt moving and drainage under our community. I think the developer does a great job of following the natural contours of the land, piping under the land and streets, and in planning the house placement, but if you watch the dirt moving and pipelaying you will see that IF the dirt is not replaced properly, you may have a cave-in. There was just one of these a couple weeks ago in a new area of Hemingway (during the 14" rain) where the runoff washed a hole under the street...granted the area was so new it had not been sodded yet, so it was easy for the runoff to wash away the dirt and cause a small pavement collapse. However, I do not know if the insurance companies care how a sinkhole happens in figuring out who is responsible for fixing it.

[GatorFan]

Florida Statute 627.706 requires every insurer authorized to sell property insurance to provide coverage for catastrophic ground cover collapse and shall make available, for an additional premium, coverage for sinkhole losses on any structure, including contents of personal property contained therein, to the extend provided in the form to which the coverage attaches. A policy for residential property insurance may include a deductible amount applicable to sinkhole losses equal to 1 percent, 2 percent, 5 percent, or 10 percent of the policy dwelling limits, with appropriate premium discounts offered with each deductible amount.

A sinkhole loss means structural damage to the building, including the foundation, caused by sinkhole activity. Contents coverage shall apply only if there is structural damage to the building caused by sinkhole activity.

Please Note: Structural damage consisting merely of the settling or cracking of a foundation, structure, or building does not constitute a loss resulting from a Sinkhole