 Sinkhole Attorneys
Home or
Building Settling or Cracking
Definition of a Sinkhole
Sinkholes are very prevalent and
are a natural result of the geology in Florida. Basically,
sinkholes occur when rain or circulating groundwater gradually
dissolve the limestone underground, thereby causing cavities
or large gaps in the limestone. Over time, the layers of sand
and soil that sit on top of the limestone fall into these
spaces, thereby causing a sinkhole. Sinkholes can be small or
quite large and they may reveal themselves at any time.
The explosive development in
Florida has severely taxed our natural resources (i.e. use of
groundwater, construction of storm ponds or diversion of
surface water) as well as greatly expanded the number of
homes, buildings and roads, all of which may be susceptible to
a sinkhole. It is for these numerous reasons that sinkholes
have become more readily apparent in the past few years.
Common Sinkhole Symptoms at Your
Home or Commercial Building
-
Cracking of the Exterior Walls
(possible Stair-Step Pattern).
-
Cracking in Exterior Porches,
Decks, Sidewalks or Driveways.
-
Cracking Around In-Ground Pools
and/or Pool Decks.
-
Separation of the Foundation from
the Soil.
-
Cracking of the Interior Walls,
Ceilings and Floors.
-
Cracking Around the Frames of
Doors, Windows or in Corners.
-
Separation of the Walls from the
Floor or Ceiling.
-
Tilting, Unleveling or Sinking of
the Floor.
-
Doors or Windows Sticking or
Jamming or not otherwise working correctly.
-
Unexplained or Unusual Water
Stains on the Floor or Walls or the Ceiling.
-
Unusual or Rapidly Developing
Depressions on the Ground in or around your Property – which
repeatedly re-form despite filling them.
-
Slanting of Trees or Landscaping
or Fence Posts or a Noticeable Change to Anything Affixed to
the Ground.
-
Excessive “Standing” Water in Your
Yard / Lawn or Exposure of Tree Roots or Dying Vegetation.
-
Unexplained Loud Sounds (As Your
House is Slowly Pulling Apart).
-
Known Sinkhole Activity in Your
Neighborhood.
When We Can Help You
Your hard work and money is
invested in your home, commercial building or investment real
estate property. We will work hard to protect this very
important investment – as well as your safety and the safety
of your guests.
We can help you at ALL stages of
your Sinkhole Claim – either before you report the claim,
while the claim is pending, if your claim was denied or if
your claim not handled properly. Our goal is to maximize the
valuation of your claim with your insurance company as
expeditiously as possible.
-
Prior to contacting your insurance
company (i.e. New Claim) – This is generally best for you,
since we are able to offer you the most benefit by overseeing
the entire claim process on your behalf (assisting to minimize
any delays and maximize the valuation of your claim). In
addition, we will retain our own expert to be present during
the actual engineering borings to confirm that they are being
conducted properly as well as insure that we have our own ‘raw
data’ in the event the findings are not as you would have
expected. By being involved early, we can help prevent the
insurance company representative from taking a negative
position with regard to your claim – which will help expedite
the ultimate processing of your claim as well as help maximize
the valuation of your claim.
-
During a pending claim with your
insurance company (i.e. Pending Claim) – Even though you have
already reported your claim to your insurance company, we can
evaluate the situation and take it over from virtually any
point in the claim process (before the actual engineering
testing has taken place; after the engineering testing has
taken place but before you receive the final results from the
engineering firm, after you receive the final results the
engineering firm or either before or after you have received
an offer to settle from your insurance company). Again – the
sooner the better (for the reasons outlined in the preceding
paragraph). No matter what – you have virtually nothing to
lose by retaining us to help maximize the valuation of your
pending claim with your insurance company.
-
After your claim has been denied
by your insurance company (i.e. Denied Claim) – If your
insurance company has denied your claim and you still believe
that the physical damages to your home, commercial building or
investment real estate property may be the result of sinkhole
activity, we will have your engineering results reviewed by
our own engineering expert at our expense. Many times our
engineering expert will point out flaws and/or deficiencies in
the engineering reports that were provided to you by your
insurance company and we can convince your insurance company
to change their mind and treat your claim as a ‘confirmed’
sinkhole claim. Other times we have no choice but to file a
lawsuit against your insurance company if they are not willing
to change their mind amicably (based upon the written
documentation that we provide to them). Of course, if our
engineering expert agrees with the findings contained in your
engineering report, we will review your insurance policy to
ascertain if your damages could be covered by some other
portion of the policy (i.e. perhaps collapse loss, for
example). Again – in this scenario – you have absolutely
nothing to lose and all to gain by retaining us to assist you
in your denied claim.
-
After your claim has already been
paid – we can reopen a previous claim (i.e. Reopen Previous
Claim) – Even though you had already accepted a previous
settlement from your insurance company, we may be able to
reopen your claim if you were not compensated fairly and
reasonably for the damages you had sustained or you are
presenting experiencing worsening of previous damages or new
damages (which is indicative that payment and/or repair
process that was recommended was not adequate or proper).
Generally speaking, you have five (5) years from the date of
loss (most often this is the date you reported the claim to
your insurance company). Furthermore, if your insurance
company did not follow strict guidelines in evaluating and
paying your claim in a prompt manner, they may be subject to a
potential “Bad Faith” lawsuit, which may provide you with
additional compensation beyond that listed in your insurance
policy.
What We Can Do To Help You
Depending upon the date of your
lose, in most counties your homeowner’s insurance or
commercial property insurance carrier must provide coverage
for damage to your home, commercial business or real estate
investment property caused by sinkhole. Due to the severe
weather that Florida has experienced over the past few years,
there has been a significant increase in sinkhole related
activity. Most sinkholes are not of the dramatic, television
news variety, but rather develop slowly over a longer period
of time.
If you have a good faith belief
that you have a sinkhole at your property, your insurance
company has a statutory and fiduciary duty to promptly and
properly investigate this sinkhole loss. They first make an
initial inspection at your property and if the adjuster
believes that the damages noted could possibly be caused by a
sinkhole, then they must conduct additional engineering
testing by a qualified and licensed geo-technical engineer.
There are many potential hazards
in dealing with your insurance company, several of which
include delaying the evaluation of your claim, denying you the
fair market value you deserve in a settlement or even denying
coverage for your claim. Your insurance company oftentimes
only retains experts whom they believe will not find sinkhole
activity and instead find that your damages were caused by
something other than a subterranean sinkhole (therefore
denying your claim). In other cases the investigations
conducted by an engineering firm retained by your insurance
company may be inadequate or incomplete and therefore
resulting in flawed results. Finally, many insurance companies
recommend sub-standard repair methods to minimize the
settlement or repair costs of your sinkhole loss. Your
insurance policy alone is not enough to guarantee you coverage
or a fair representation from your insurance carrier.
The Law Offices of Joseph A.
Porcelli, P.A. has represented numerous homeowners in disputes
with their insurance company with regard to sinkhole related
damage, quite possibly even someone in your neighborhood. Most
people do not have the experience of resolving a sinkhole
claim with their insurance company and are at a decided
disadvantage vis-à-vis their insurance company. Our years of
experience in assisting policyholders helps level the playing
field to your benefit. Our goal is to maximize the valuation
of your claim as expeditiously as possible.
How You Pay For Our Legal Services
We offer a
FREE
SAME DAY CONSULTATION and we always accept Sinkhole cases on
Contingency Fee Basis. Putting it in another way, if we do not
obtain a recovery on your behalf, you will owe us NOTHING in
legal fees nor do you have to reimburse us for your costs /
expenses of our legal representation. Furthermore, if your
insurance company did not follow strict guidelines in
evaluating and paying your claim, they may be subject to a
potential “Bad Faith” lawsuit, which may provide you with
additional compensation beyond that listed in your insurance
policy. In summary, you have nothing to lose and all to gain
if you retain us to assist you in your sinkhole claim.
Call Us Today – Toll Free at
877-529-9191 or submit the
FREE Case
Evaluation Form. |
