Sinkhole Coverage in Florida

SINKHOLE COVERAGE IN FLORIDA

With sinkholes in the news again, my office have been receiving calls from clients and the public on sinkhole coverage. I do understand that when you see something as frightening as a sinkhole on the news you wonder if you are covered or have enough coverage. First of all, what was on the news recently in The Villages is covered on everyone's standard homeowners policy. It is under Catastrophic Ground Cover Collapse on your policy, which is how the state of Florida defines the event that happened on the news. Here is the satatute for this coverage in Florida 627.706 It covers your home if a sinkhole appears and makes your home either unsafe, condemned or uninhabitable.

Insurance company's have an add on to home insurance policy's called Sinkhole Coverage. This confuses most people, it makes them believe that they are not covered unless they have that on their policy. This is because most people do not understand the coverage of catastrophic ground cover collapse. The addition of sinkhole coverage to a policy covers a potential sinkhole. It covers additional things that I would be happy to explain if anyone wanted to contact me. However it has to be approved coverage by the insurance carrier. You must pay for a sinkhole inspection upfront and is nonrefundable even if they deny you the coverage. Most insurance carriers do a radius evolution to see if any sinkholes are in the vicinity, the radius differs from company to company.  If then approved the coverage will have a 10% deductible, which means if your home policy is for 300k the deductible is 30k. If an event happens under the sinkhole coverage and you want to make a claim, the repair must be more than the deductible amount before the insurance company will pay anything. If the repair is more than the deductible the insurance company will only pay the difference in the amount.

I would be happy to go over the Pro's and Con's off these coverage's and all coverage's. You do not even need to be a current client. I enjoy educating the public on insurance in Florida. please contact me at 352-751-5454 or email me at jaime.goldsmith@aol.com. I did not provide the full description of catastrophic ground cover collapse or sinkhole coverage in this blog, I can explain both in detail if you would like. I do not choose for a client what to add or not add on a policy. I only educate and advise my clients what might be best for their situation. That is why it is important to be well informed before you make any decision on a insurance policy in Florida. My office services The Villages, Lady Lake, Leesburg, Ocala, Lake County, Marion County, Sumter County, Central Florida and all of Florida.