If you are in need of sinkhole insurance in Polk City Florida, please call us at 407-344-1228 or email us at [email protected].

What Are Sinkholes?

Image for a minute: You are leaving your home, ready to handle the workday, only to find out an inexplicable, large hole where your vehicle is supposed to be. Scary, isn’t it? Well, that’s the thing about sinkholes. They are very unpredictable and destructive.

Sinkholes are depressions or holes at ground level that usually occur when the soil below erodes, and in Florida, they are more common than you may think. They can damage the structure of your house, causing anything from cracking to the walls, ceiling or floors to complete destruction.

Sinkholes usually occur without any warning. According to a CNN report released in 2013, a giant sinkhole caused the collision of a resort in Florida, harming almost half of the guests. In the year 2014, a sinkhole badly damaged a vintage museum in Kentucky, destroying valuable cars. According to the U.S Geological Survey report, sinkholes cause about $350 million in damage every year.

This shows that sinkholes are pretty destructive to personal property and real estate, and you need insurance to help you cover the loss of your valuable property.

But first, you must find out what causes them so that you can find ways to protect your property from sinkhole damage.

Common Causes of a Sinkhole

Sinkholes are caused by moving ground water, which erodes the rock below the soil. This produces a large cavity in the ground and causes a collision.

It may seem like it is simple to detect the sinkholes, but in reality, it is quite difficult. In 2014, NASA reported that they could detect surface ground movement with their advanced satellite program, but they might not be able to detect sinkholes through this satellite. This because not every sinkhole exhibits this behavior before the ground caves in, and many buildings also tend to get in the way for this detection technique to be reliable. However, few risk factors can make sinkholes a bit simpler to predict.
Here are some of the causes of sinkholes that can help predict when one might occur:

Natural Causes: The weather plays a major role in causing sinkholes, and most moist and tropical climates areas more prone to sinkholes than dry ones.

That said, the after-effects of natural disasters such as earthquakes, the emergence of excess groundwater or erosions on the surface of the earth are all things that can lead to sinkholes. Although excessive flooding and rains may cause all these disasters at times, there is some proof that severe droughts can have the same results. This shows that natural sinkholes typically indicate early signs of erosion.

Human-Made Causes: Sinkholes can be caused by human-made forces that damage the underground layers of the ground. Construction work, drilling, and the use of heavy machinery are some activities that result in sinkholes. Most people think that fracture mining, also known as fracking, may also be responsible for sinkholes. This is because it sometimes destabilizes the ground with heavy machinery digging.

Can You Detect a Sinkhole in Your House/Property?

People who live in sinkhole-prone areas should look for signs of ground water erosions or ground movement. The following are some signs that can help you detect a sinkhole in your property:

• Unusual soil or pollutants in your drinking water
• Doors and windows which are eventually becoming harder to open or shut
• Water patches or moisture on the walls
• Small cracks in driveways, outdoor walkways, streets, and roads near your house
• Depressions in the surrounding areas of your home or your yard
• Deep or minor cracks between windows and doors

What Is Sinkhole Insurance and Why Do You Need It?

Sinkhole insurance is property insurance that helps a homeowner to pay for the catastrophic damage sinkholes cause. The coverage of this insurance generally applies to your personal property and home.

In simple words, a sinkhole is a deep hole in the surface of the ground, which occurs when the ground’s surface layer suddenly collapses. When a sinkhole damages a property or home, the repairs can cost a fortune. Therefore, sinkhole insurance is extremely important in regions that experience sinkhole activity, like Tennessee, Florida, Texas, etc. If the ground collapses and damages your property’s foundation, it may cost you thousands of dollars to repair the cracks and other damage. Sinkhole insurance provides a great deal of protection to homeowners as it helps to pay for the essential and expensive maintenance or repairs, such as:

• Repairing the cracks of your windows and walls
• Remodeling the foundation of your house
• Stabilizing the home and the land

Many homeowners or business owners purchase insurance policies that provide special offers and deals for sinkhole coverage. However, not every insurance policy covers it. If your insurance doesn’t cover sinkhole damage, you will not receive any reimbursement for your expenses if a sinkhole damages your house or company. Generally, this is a rule that many homeowners insurance companies follow.

Is Sinkhole Insurance Worth It?

Sinkhole insurance can be expensive, but it can truly be a lifesaver. This is because sinkholes can completely damage a home or may weaken the foundation of your house, and these repairs can cost hundreds of dollars. Therefore, if you are living in a region where sinkholes are quite common, then sinkhole insurance might be vital for you. Securing your property from the unexpected ground movement is what sinkhole insurance does, and while sinkholes are unpredictable, it is essential to be protected in the event one does occur. Your ordinary insurance policy will not secure you from sinkhole damage, which is why a separate policy will be needed.

So, if you don’t have sinkhole insurance, you must contact an insurance company as soon as possible to discover what sinkhole coverage options they are offering.

Sinkhole Insurance in Polka City Florida

Sinkholes are like big cavities in the ground, typically caused by floods or water erosion, which may be exceedingly dangerous to your property’s structure. Homeowner’s insurance usually does not cover sinkhole damages, but some homeowner insurance companies in Florida do cover sinkhole damage. This is because Florida law requires home insurance companies to offer security for catastrophic sinkholes. However, if you are living outside of Florida, the best choice for sinkhole coverage is to speak with your insurance provider about the sinkhole coverage or some kind of endorsement for sinkholes.

Why You Should Hire an Experienced Sinkhole Lawyer in Florida

Sinkholes are unpredictable and can damage a house badly in a short period of time. This catastrophic damage caused by sinkholes needs urgent attention and repair, as delaying the repair may cause even more complications for you, such as house remodeling expenses. Therefore, you must inform and ask the insurance company to pay for your damage urgently.

However, there may be a possibility that the insurance company would refuse to pay for the sinkhole damage by telling you that there is no such activity even though your house may be falling apart due to the sinkhole damage. In such a case, only an experienced sinkhole lawyer in Florida can help you take the required steps to recover your insurance claim under the insurance policy. This is because navigating an insurance claim without professional assistance is not easy. You need legal help whether you are trying to recover your insurance claim or you were denied coverage.

In the U.S, sinkhole claims are typically an ever-changing area of the law. In the year 2011, new sinkhole laws and policies went into effect in Florida, and they significantly changed the way claims of sinkhole insurance in Polka City Florida, were handled. Even now, the Supreme Court of Florida is still working on detailing some of the new laws, which makes it challenging to dispute these types of insurance claims.

Every insurance company has experts in their team that work hard to ensure that their rights are protected. Similarly, if you want to protect your rights, you will also need an expert. To ensure that the damages to your house were really caused by a sinkhole, the insurance company will even involve experts in engineering and geology.

Moreover, as the claim progresses, the insurance company will hire more experts to get involved. It is quite common for an ordinary homeowner not to comprehend the process of an insurance claim and to know how to read the expert’s report about your damage. Therefore, having an expert sinkhole lawyer by your side is essential to protect your legal rights and to help you the process of insurance claims.

So, what are you waiting for? Hire a sinkhole lawyer now for your own security, especially if you live in sinkhole-prone areas of Florida.

If you are in need of sinkhole insurance in Polk City Florida, please call us at 407-344-1228 or email us at [email protected].