[lake5798]

I recently purchased a home in the Village of Amelia. I was thinking of having an inspection performed to see if I qualify to obtain sinkhole insurance. I was curious if anyone in Amelia or neighboring village has sinkhole insurance, or had inspection performed and were denied.Inspection cost is $140 and if there have been any claims within 1 mile you would be denied??Thanks for any and all feedback.

[Mack184]

Originally Posted by lake5798

I recently purchased a home in the Village of Amelia. I was thinking of having an inspection performed to see if I qualify to obtain sinkhole insurance. I was curious if anyone in Amelia or neighboring village has sinkhole insurance, or had inspection performed and were denied.Inspection cost is $140 and if there have been any claims within 1 mile you would be denied??Thanks for any and all feedback.

Our new home is being insured by the people at Villages Insurance. We were told point blank that if you are getting a new contract policy you have a lesser chance of being approved for sinkhole insurance than you have for getting struck by lightning & winning the Powerball Lottery at the same time. We were told IF we bought a brandy-new home in TV in Sumter county, you would likely be approved. If you bought a pre-owned home, it was very unlikely you would be approved no matter how your inspection came out.

The inspection is only the first part. Even if the engineering company that inspects your home says "OK", it's still up to the individual company and they are for the most part rejecting all applications for new policies, especially if you are in Marion county, and the chances don't get much better in Sumter county.

Then, IF the sun, moon, planets & galaxy line up and the the good Lord smiles down on you from above and you get approved, you will then have a policy with a deductible that will run from 10-30% of the appraised value of your home. In our case the deductible would have been 19,000!

When it comes to people who already have policies in effect, the results vary widely by insurance company. But if you just bought a home and are purchasing a new home owner's policy, your chances of getting sinkhole insurance are VERY slim.

Good luck!

[raynitsche]

You can get it through the State Insurance Fund if you feel it is necessary. If they still provide it at a much higher cost. The insurance companies will cover you through " Catastrophic Ground Collapse " I was told that you would be covered if your property is declared " condemned " but you will not be covered for cracks in the drywall and other foundation cracks that happen but the house is still livable.
Google " Sinkholes & Catastrophic Ground Collapse " in Florida through the Florida Dept of Financial Services.

[vj1213]

When my insurance came up for renewal a few months ago I was told I had to have the inspection in order to renew the sinkhole coverage. I paid the $140 fee. The man comes out is at your house for about 15 minutes. Walks inside and out and takes pictures of any cracks. I was denied because I had one hairline crack on the side of my garage. It is like a little crack in the paint. It isn't like it was any real inspection, I even called the company that does the inspections and spoke with the man who did the inspection, he told me that they recommend nothing, they just take the pictures which the insurance tells them, and the insurance is the one who makes the determination on whether you get coverage.

[Villager Dude]

We purchased a home in Amelia in May 2010 and insured it thru Village Insurance. We placed the home in the rental market but will be there full time on Nobember 3rd ( Excited ) .That policy has sinkhole insurance but I understand most Insurance Companies are excluding coverage at renewal.

I have seen a thread before that covered this topic where some cited coverage was available.

Good Luck.

[Mack184]

Originally Posted by Villager Dude

We purchased a home in Amelia in May 2010 and insured it thru Village Insurance. We placed the home in the rental market but will be there full time on Nobember 3rd ( Excited ) .That policy has sinkhole insurance but I understand most Insurance Companies are excluding coverage at renewal.

I have seen a thread before that covered this topic where some cited coverage was available.

Good Luck.

According to our rep at Villages Insurance all the rules of the game changed on 1/1/2012. It's easier for people who are renewing a policy to get sinkhole coverage, but for people who are first-time Florida buyers the news isn't good. It's not even good if you've been covered previously in Flroida and move to a different home.

Also those who have had sinkhole insurance in the past, and are allowed to keep it in renewal, many are finding out that they are now going to be shifted from their standard deductible to the large 10-30% of appraised value deductible.

If you're willing to pay the cost for inspection then there's no reason not to apply and see what happens. You never know..It just might be your lucky day!