It was hard to miss the recent Florida story of a sinkhole fatality. This tragic event made news headlines in part because fatalities due to sinkholes are such a rare occurrence.
The story also prompted questions about sinkholes and insurance coverage.
Over at Straight Talk, the Insuring Florida blog, a post by Lynne McChristian explains that Florida has a sinkhole law requiring every property insurer to provide coverage for “catastrophic ground cover collapse”.
This is defined as:
1. Abrupt collapse of the ground cover,
2. A depression in the ground cover clearly visible to the naked eye,
3. Structural damage to the insured building, including the foundation, and
4. The insured structure being condemned and ordered vacated by the governmental agency authorized to do so.
2. A depression in the ground cover clearly visible to the naked eye,
3. Structural damage to the insured building, including the foundation, and
4. The insured structure being condemned and ordered vacated by the governmental agency authorized to do so.
However, a separate optional comprehensive sinkhole policy is needed to cover any other type of sinkhole damage.
Florida is one of only two states that require home insurers to offer sinkhole coverage.The other is Tennessee. In other states most homeowners insurance policies exclude coverage for sinkhole damage.
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