Sinkhole Damage Lawyer Florida
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Sinkhole News & Blog
It is essential that you purchase the Additional Sinkhole
Coverage endorsement at which time your homeowner's insurance policy
renews. Although you may have to pay an additional premium for this
endorsement, this is valuable coverage that you cannot afford not to
have in the Tampa Bay area - especially Pasco and Hernando Counties.
Visit our
Sinkhole
Blog to read more articles relating to Sinkholes.
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.
Area Served: Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Hernando County, Hillsborough County, Pasco County, Pinellas County,
Polk County.
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