Sinkholes Continue to Cause Major Problems in Central Florida

Central Florida sinkholes are not new.  But now they are threatening a much wider area and making it harder to locate homeowners insurance.

Sinkholes are naturally occurring depressions in the soil that are fairly common in West Central Florida.  They appear when the limestone underneath the soil dissolves resulting in a shift or depression in the surface soil.  Sinkholes can be anything from a small depression to a gigantic hole and they can appear anywhere without notice.

Their appearance can result from excessive rainfall or droughts that change underground water levels among other things.  Recently, citrus and strawberry crops in Florida were threatened by unusually cold weather.  To keep their crops from freezing, farmers flooded the fields which may have resulted in a drop in underground water levels giving rise to new sinkholes.

Two sinkholes recently appeared in southern Polk County which swallowed two lanes of northbound U.S. Highway 27.  Later the same week, a possible sinkhole caused the closing of two lanes of Interstate 4 in the Tampa area of Hillsborough County.  Other West Central Florida sinkhole incidents have threatened nearby homes, while swallowing a mobile home and a shed.

What is even more disturbing is that Florida sinkholes appear to be threatening a much wider area of West Central Florida.  According to data collected by the Florida Department of Environment Resources, residents and public officials in Marion, Lake, Orange, and Citrus Counties have been reporting a growing share of the sinkhole activity - most noticeably in the past ten years.

Now it is one thing to see a Florida sinkhole near a rural stretch of highway off in a field somewhere.  It's a totally different thing to see a sinkhole in your own back yard or one that is causing your foundation to crack.  New home developments built on land that can't properly support the weight, could become a major issue in places like Orlando, Ocala, and Lakeland - places that have only recently appeared on the Florida sinkhole radar screen.

If you report a potential sinkhole to your Florida home insurance company, it can cost the company up to $12,000 just for the geological studies to determine the cause of your possible sinkhole claim.  It could cost anywhere from $60,000 to over $130,000 to fix the ground under your home if you have a legitimate sinkhole claim - that's more expensive than the cost to cover damages from a large Florida hurricane.  Finally, Florida insurance companies have sounded the alarm over fraudulent sinkhole claims where even the smallest foundation cracks end up as a sinkhole claim.

The concern that Florida home insurance companies have about possible sinkhole claims has definitely affected the price and availability of homeowners insurance especially in Pasco, Hernando, and Hillsborough Counties.  To begin with there are not many companies writing new business in those counties and those that are look in detail at the history and location of the sinkhole claims that have been filed - regardless of whether those claims have been proven to be legitimate.  If the home that you are looking to cover in West Central Florida is in an area where your neighbors have filed sinkhole claims, you could be turned down for coverage even if your home is sitting on the most solid piece of ground in the area.

As a Florida home insurance consumer you should speak to your home insurance agent and get a clear understanding of the difference between catastrophic and comprehensive sinkhole coverage.  In general catastrophic coverage that has to be included in all Florida home insurance policies will pay for an abrupt ground collapse that makes your home uninhabitable.  But you could need comprehensive sinkhole coverage if you live in an area where sinkhole activity could cause structural damage to your home's foundation.  Comprehensive sinkhole coverage has to be bought separately and you might find it to be too expensive.

Sinkholes could be responsible for expanding the Florida home insurance crisis into expanded areas in West Central Florida.  The number of companies interested in writing new business in other counties in the area could dramatically decrease if that happens.  That could mean that Marion, Lake, Orange, and Citrus Counties may face the same issues with even more expensive homeowners insurance rates and more of a challenge to find coverage - something that Pasco, Hernando, and Hillsborough County residents already face.