[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by PaPaLarry

Hot spot for sinkholes

Sinkhole claims to insurance from 2006-2010. Percent is percent of statewide total, which was 24,671. The Tampa Bay area had 72 percent of the total claims in the state.

Hernando 6,036 24.5%
Pasco 5,932 24.0%
Hillsborough 4,450 18.0%
Pinellas 1,466 5.9%


Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation

PaPa Larry. Your header above "Hot spot for sinkholes refers to the Tampa Bay area. Correct???????????

Trying to keep people from seeing the doctor for blood pressure peaks.

[Eve2278]

Originally Posted by jmm2760jmm

Does this happen all at once or over a period of time...hours, days etc..? I've never seen anything like this and it's a little scary.

Woke up one morning and looked across to my neighbors house and a sink hole was forming. Just happens. The Village people came out ASAP and filled it. here's a site that answers some question about sinkholes in Fla..

FGS - Frequently Asked Questions

[Eve2278]

here is a site that ans some questions about sink holes in Fla

FGS - Frequently Asked Questions

[janmcn]

Originally Posted by Eve2278

Woke up one morning and looked across to my neighbors house and a sink hole was forming. Just happens. The Village people came out ASAP and filled it. here's a site that answers some question about sinkholes in Fla..

FGS - Frequently Asked Questions

Could you tell us what village you live in or at least what county?

[Bob45]

I was told by a Villages insurance agent this morning that it was NOT a sinkhole. And that it was covered by the regular home coverage. Not the sinkhole coverage.

Bob

[JoeC1947]

Originally Posted by Eve2278

Woke up one morning and looked across to my neighbors house and a sink hole was forming. Just happens. The Village people came out ASAP and filled it. here's a site that answers some question about sinkholes in Fla..

FGS - Frequently Asked Questions

Did they sing YMCA too?

Just kidding. I noticed that the sink hole in Sunset Point has been filled in. Does anyone know if the house has been condemned?

[Carla B]

Originally Posted by Bob45

I was told by a Villages insurance agent this morning that it was NOT a sinkhole. And that it was covered by the regular home coverage. Not the sinkhole coverage.

Bob

Which occurrence are you referring to? The one near Cane Garden?

[buggyone]

Exactly WHAT did the insurance agent say was the cause of that huge hole - the one near Cane Gardens?

[Happinow]

Originally Posted by Carla B

I talked to someone in TV who had a sinkhole claim on their designer home. Their cost out of pocket would have been $102,000. You don't have to rebuild the entire house if it's not catastrophic ground collapse. You have to stabilize the foundation by drilling tunnels and filling them and then repairing sheetrock etc. to make the house plumb again. The house required 27+ tunnels, I believe.

Re self insurance: our condo association would have been happy to self-insure but Florida law bans condos from doing that. However, I think it would be worth exploring in TV, since these are single family homes. I just looked at our condo budget and see that we pay a total of $335,000, per year which equals $840. per owner and that only takes care of the outside and the common areas. We pay another $800+ for liability and dwelling coverage which only covers the interior.

Another thought, I was wondering how the new homes in Sanibel, Fernandina etc. are getting sinkhole coverage if most companies are no longer writing in Sumter Co. Or is it that they are not writing in zip code 32162? If so, aren't the houses south of 466A in a different zip code? Just curious.

We are a new build South of 466A in Sanibel and our zip is 32163

[PaPaLarry]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

PaPa Larry. Your header above "Hot spot for sinkholes refers to the Tampa Bay area. Correct???????????

Trying to keep people from seeing the doctor for blood pressure peaks.

Yes Gracie! But if you Google "Florida Office of Insurance Regulations" you can get much information. From what I can see, (and I am not a "pro") most sinkholes in Florida are south of The Villages. I'm sure this Thread is going to produce articles, down the road in all 3 papers. Makes me think twice about gambling without "sinkhole Ins". Right now I have it.

[Bob45]

Originally Posted by Carla B

Which occurrence are you referring to? The one near Cane Garden?

She said the one in Sunset Point. And it was not a sinkhole. It was called a ground catastrophe. Also said sinkholes happen slowly over time. A ground catastrophe happens quickly. I didn't go into detail with her and I may have mis-understood. I was focused on questions about my own policy.

Bob

[Carla B]

Thanks for clearing that up. It makes sense...catastrophic ground collapse is covered under the main policy homeowners' policy.

[Russ_Boston]

The idea of self insure is not doable for many reasons.

Think about:

Who would collect the money? Who would record the properties in the fund? Where would the money be stored/saved? Who would arrange for audits? And pay for the audits? Who would do this work without getting paid? Who would manage the claims? Who would investigate the claims? Etc Etc!

There is a reason that insurance companies exist and a reason that most of them employ thousands of people. Even companies that I know of that self insure their health fund (for example) have to hire an insurance company to handle all the processing of money, claims etc.

Bottom line: Sounds simple and neat but not doable.

[shcisamax]

Gee, maybe TV could take it on...they do kind of have everything else wrapped up. Maybe they can put it under THEIR umbrella insurance? After all, it is in the best interest of TV to sell their houses and from what I have seen, they are problem solvers on the macro level. If none of their houses going forward can get sinkhole.. I really have no idea.

What I do know is that as of this writing, I have been told only ONE company is now insuring for sink hole. Going forward, that will change because understandably they will not want to be the only one to cover risk. So instead of starting from the premise of how difficult or nothing can be done, people who do not already have it need to start figuring out how to obtain this insurance.

With all due respect, it is a non issue for people who already have it; If they were facing the same dilemna, perhaps they would be using their thoughts and posts to discover solutions rather than discussing how difficult it will be. This issue is a perfect example of "Necessity is the mother of invention." Any positive ideas should be considered. And Tv should not be ruled out automatically; it affects their business model. mho

[Posh 08]

Originally Posted by shcisamax

Gee, maybe TV could take it on...they do kind of have everything else wrapped up. Maybe they can put it under THEIR umbrella insurance? After all, it is in the best interest of TV to sell their houses and from what I have seen, they are problem solvers on the macro level. If none of their houses going forward can get sinkhole.. I really have no idea.

What I do know is that as of this writing, I have been told only ONE company is now insuring for sink hole. Going forward, that will change because understandably they will not want to be the only one to cover risk. So instead of starting from the premise of how difficult or nothing can be done, people who do not already have it need to start figuring out how to obtain this insurance.

With all due respect, it is a non issue for people who already have it; If they were facing the same dilemna, perhaps they would be using their thoughts and posts to discover solutions rather than discussing how difficult it will be. This issue is a perfect example of "Necessity is the mother of invention." Any positive ideas should be considered. And Tv should not be ruled out automatically; it affects their business model. mho

Agree.