Does my homeowners insurance cover sinkholes? That is a great question, especially with all the sinkhole activity we have in Florida. Across the country Florida seems to be known for a few things. Disney World, great beaches and sinkholes. It seems that this year sinkholes have made a lot of headlines, and rightly so. This year alone Florida has made world wide headlines.
We started off the year with a large sinkhole literally opening up under a bedroom swallowing a man while he slept in Brandon, Florida. Then a couple months later another large sinkhole swallows parts of a resort near Disney World. Thankfully, no one was injured in this one. Then in November another massive sinkhole swallowed a boat, swimming pool, and some of a home. That sinkhole is still growing.
Also in the news over the past couple of years there has been a lot of talk about sinkhole insurance. If you call for a new homeowners quote it is almost impossible to be offered an insurance policy with sinkhole insurance.
Justifiably I am often asked are sinkholes ever covered by homeowners insurance?
Plain and simple, the sinkholes that you have seen in the news are always pretty much always covered, as long as there is an active homeowners insurance policy in place. All policies include what is called catastrophic ground cover collapse. In the stories that you read and hear about in the news that is what is happening.
For a sinkhole claim to be paid by an insurance carrier 4 things must be present:
1) Abrupt collapse of the ground cover.
2) A depression on the ground that is clearly visible by the naked eye.
3) There must be structural damage to the building including the foundation.
4) Structure condemned by the appropriate authorities.
If these four things and all of these four things are present you have a sinkhole that will be covered by any homeowners insurance policy.
Have questions? Give us a call at 813-347-5555 or use our contact us page to submit a question.
Grace and Peace
Eric Most
