New sinkhole insurance laws

There's a new law that gives homeowners the choice to insure their homes against sinkhole damage.

[Pasco Resident]

What this story didn't tell people is that thanks to our local legislators, Pasco and Hernando Counties were singled out and the sinkhole coverage was forceably taken away.The rest of the 65 counties can "CHOOSE" to drop the coverage. The story also did not specifically point out is Mr. Lee's sinkhole would NOT be covered under the catastrophic coverage and would probably cost him somewhere around $60,000 out of his pocket to properly fill in this sinkhole!
BEWARE of wolves in sheeps skin!

[USSSA coach]

Starting Sept. 1, Citizens is dropping sinkhole coverage for Hernando and Pasco homeowners as policies are renewed. The only way homeowners can keep it is to tell Citizens they still want it.

Citizens said catastrophic ground collapses will still be covered even if homeowners opt out of the sinkhole coverage.

That is one insurance companies policey all you have to do is let them know you still want it.

What counties would you like them to try and drop sinkhole coverage from? Hernando and Pasco counties where 80-90 percent of sinkhole claims have been made the past three years.

You must know at least one person that has had a claim. They take the buy out option which pays of there loan ussally leaving them with thousands of dollars. Then they sell the house to company that just buys sink house homes. That company fixes the house and holds the note on some low income family charging them high intrest rates. Which in turns raises your Assessed Value of your home. So you pay more taxes.

[Big John]

why dont we put all the Ins. companys in a big sink hole and cover them for every???

[Jim Watkins]

The policies you were buying lasy year required the Insurance companies to include all sinkhole damage. The new law removes that requirment. The citizens of Florida have "lost ground" in this new law.

[Sinkhole Investigator]

Only the rarest of sinkholes will result in a house being condemned (coverage for collapse will almost never be invoked). The costs of repairing sinkholes start around $40K (legitimate contractors making proper repairs) and go well over $100K. Who will choose to live in Pasco and Hernando when they can keep sinkhole coverage in the surrounding counties AND save a $1000 or more a year on insurance. The revised laws regarding sinkhole coverage have punished the people MOST needing the protection.

[Bubba Watcher]

Sinkhole Investigator, That is how the "sheep" herder get's to keep fleeceing the flock; don't give all there secrets away! The Jim and Tammy show revisited???

[usssa]

USSSA coach wrote:

Starting Sept. 1, Citizens is dropping sinkhole coverage for Hernando and Pasco homeowners as policies are renewed. The only way homeowners can keep it is to tell Citizens they still want it.
Citizens said catastrophic ground collapses will still be covered even if homeowners opt out of the sinkhole coverage.
That is one insurance companies policey all you have to do is let them know you still want it.
What counties would you like them to try and drop sinkhole coverage from? Hernando and Pasco counties where 80-90 percent of sinkhole claims have been made the past three years.
You must know at least one person that has had a claim. They take the buy out option which pays of there loan ussally leaving them with thousands of dollars. Then they sell the house to company that just buys sink house homes. That company fixes the house and holds the note on some low income family charging them high intrest rates. Which in turns raises your Assessed Value of your home. So you pay more taxes.

you are totally wrong. i own a company and have for over 9 years purchased sinkhole homes. we do have them repaired and our rehab work is second to none. we sell them on the open market with a realtor and are withing 3% of listed price. we have never held mortgages for any family much less low income families at a high interest rate.
you need to talk to someone who really does this business in an honest and professional way. matter of fact i don't know of any investor who does what you said. don't talk to your neighbors and friends, they don't know

[curious observer]

I am watching to see what comes of Citizens decisions regarding sinkholes. They are trying this in direct response to demands from HAC and other groups that don't realize that they had a monkey on their back with fraudulent claims and price gouging contractors. Their decision has done nothing more than place the entire burden on the poor citizens that are most desperate rather than spread the cost of the peril throughout the masses as is generally how insurance works.

[SH Repairer]

It is true that there are many companies and people out there that buy sinkhole homes and fix them cheap, just enough to rent them out or try to sell as a "fixed" home. They hire a contractor or fix it themselves doing a half witted "shallow" grouting job and put a little steel pins in place, just enough to close up some cracks, then claim it's fixed.

What is not true is the homeowners "taking the buyout option". In almost all cases, the insurance adjuster is the one that determines whether or not the house gets fixed or the policy limits are paid out. If the plan of repair is within a certain percentage of the policy limit, then the house gets fixed, over that limit, it gets paid off. Paying out the policy limits does not mean the homeowner gets a check free and clear. The mortgage company gets thier cut if there is a mortgage. If...god forbid this person hired one of the rich sinkhole attorneys, that check gets 1/3 of the payment carved out of it, leaving the homeowner with nothing. If they did not have a mortgage, then they are not left with enough to fix the house. The only things the attorneys do, is try to get you cashed out so they can get thier cut of the money. They do not care if the house is fixed properly, they will get thier own engineer out of thier pocket to say the house needs to be grouted, underpinned, chemically grouted, and rebuilt, so the insurance company will just say "here's the check" and be done with it.

This law does nothing for anyone but the insurance companies. Pasco will become the new industrial center of Florida, cheap land, no more residents.

[Simon]

yeah, now the verbage for insurance scammers in florida is they will cover claims for anything except for what happened in your case