That is a common myth. Sinkhole insurance does NOT cover a sinkhole in the driveway or in the yard, or to other property that does not affect the house. It only covers damage to your house. All policies in Florida cover catastrophic ground collapse damage to your house if the house is deemed uninhabitable by the county or state. If you have damage to your house, but the house is not deemed uninhabitable, then an optional sinkhole coverage may cover the damage to your house.

We are moving into our new home in early April and I have quotes from both State Farm and AAA that include sinkhole insurance.

Shop around the village’s insurance is NOT a good thing. Many issues with there services.

If a sinkhole touches your house, the damage is covered under your homeowners policy. A rider for sinkhole coverage is needed if the sinkhole DOES NOT touch the house, but appears on your property

Not true. The optional sinkhole insurance only covers damage to the house. I would suggest that you read the sinkhole insurance rider very carefully. I have. The only difference between the optional sinkhole coverage and the mandatory catastrophic ground collapse coverage is that the house must be deemed uninhabitable by the county or state to get coverage under the mandatory insurance. Verbal information from an insurance salesperson is often not correct.

They ment since their last renewal. The year number is irrelevant.

All insurance policies in Florida must cover catastrophic ground collapse. If the house is deemed uninhabitable by the county or state, then your homeowner's insurance will cover the damage. This is a mandatory coverage for all Florida homeowner policies.

Sinkhole
 

No, all insurance doesn't have sinkhole. It's a separate rider. All policies have catrostaphic ground collapse, which is different from sinkhole.

You've got it backwards.

Sink Hole coverage
 

Everyone should understand the difference between SH (sink hole) and CLC (Catastrophic land collapse) Everyones policy has CLC. This is when the land collapses causing damage to the property or house. SH coverage has the same thing happen, and as someone mentioned it swallows your home. Not True, it also might only cause some property or home damage. SH coverage is optional. Some are saying on this blog it is no longer offered by any company any more. I don't know if that is true. Here's the difference, it's in the cause of the collapse. In both cases, the State, in this case FL sends out an inspection team, and if they determine that the cause of the land collapse is the result of a limestone formation under the earths surface then its a SH. I assume they have to do some boring, if you don't have SH coverage, you getting nothing from your insurance company, and you can't argue or negotiate, the state makes the final determination. If it's not determined to be limestone then you will get coverage under the CLC clause. About two years ago I had purchased insurance through TV insurance agency, they wrote my policy with one of the companies mentioned in this forum. It had a 10% property value deduction, which would have amount to 30,000 to 40,000k deductible. And it went up drastically the second year. Too, about $2700/ yr. I switched to State Farm they included SH, and the deducible was $1000 on all line items that had deductibles. It was about $2200/yr last year and only went up a few dollars this year. Kelly Mast is the State Farm agency on Warm Springs ave. Check it out, I'd be interested if they still offer SH coverage. Hope this helps, Regards.

Do you know if GPR is, or can be, included in a pre-purchase home inspection? Thanks

Your information does not seem to track with this explanation from Harry Levine Insurance. Also, both sinkhole insurance and catastrophic ground collapse insurance only cover the house, not the surrounding property:

"Catastrophic Ground Cover Collapse
Catastrophic ground cover collapse coverage is included under your existing home insurance policy.
However, your claim must meet four requirements before your insurance company will reimburse you for the loss:

1. The abrupt collapse of the ground cover;
2. A depression in the ground cover clearly visible to the naked eye;
3. ,Structural damage to the insured building, including the foundation; and
4. The insured structure being condemned and ordered to be vacated by the governmental agency authorized by law to issue such an order for that structure.

Again, all four of these conditions must be met for it to be considered catastrophic ground collapse. Incidents that meet only some of these conditions would require a sinkhole insurance policy."

A lot of people who buy insurance products rely way too much on verbal information that they receive from a "so-called" insurance agent. They are not legal agents of the company. Anything that these salespeople tell you needs to be in writing in the policy document or in the rider. Often, the information these people provide is false and/or misleading. I found this to be especially true regarding sinkhole insurance.

This is correct BUT regular sink hole insurance covers where the house is settling and is still livable. Many people believe regular sink hole insurance covers collapses in their lawn, driveway, back yard, etc,. but it does not. Regular sink hole insurance that you pay for only covers settlement under any living area.

In reality, based on recent sink holes here in The Villages where homes were affected, the homes met the conditions for catastrophic ground collapse and was covered under the main insurance. This was the case recently where a sink hole developed on Nancy Lopez golf course. The affected home had no visible evidence to the naked eye by the newspapers and neighbors but the state declared it catastrophic.

Correct. I have said that on this thread. There is a myth that sinkhole insurance covers the driveway and other property. I think this myth has been propagated by misinformed insurance agents. People who buy a sinkhole rider, should print out the rider and read it for themselves. Don't believe everything the "agent" tells you. The insurance company will not stand behind anything that is not stated in the policy documents.