Florida sinkhole insurance: what a standard policy covers

Why Florida gets its own page

Most of Florida sits on limestone under a blanket of sand and clay, the setting for cover-collapse sinkholes (see why buried limestone is not automatically safe). On this site 26 of Florida's 67 counties are rated sinkhole country and 35 more have some sinkhole ground. The most karst-covered include Alachua County, FL, Baker County, FL, Bradford County, FL, Columbia County, FL. Florida is also the one state where the law splits sinkhole insurance in two, and buyers face that choice at every quote.

What every policy includes

Under Florida Statute 627.706, every homeowners policy must cover catastrophic ground cover collapse at no extra charge. The bar is high: the ground must collapse abruptly, leave a depression you can see, cause structural damage to the building including the foundation, and the building must be condemned and ordered vacated by the authorities. All four conditions have to be met. Cracking, settling or a slow sag that leaves you living in the house does not qualify.

What costs extra

Broader sinkhole loss coverage, for structural damage from sinkhole activity that falls short of a full collapse, is a separate option. The same statute requires insurers to make it available for an additional premium, and insurers may inspect the property before agreeing to write it. Whether to buy it is a judgement about the house and the price; this site does not give insurance advice. The useful step is to ask for both prices side by side and read what each policy defines as sinkhole loss.

Before you sign

Ask the seller about past sinkhole claims and repairs. Florida sellers must disclose known facts that materially affect value, and a prior claim usually leaves an engineering report and repair record behind. The Florida Geological Survey keeps a map of reported subsidence incidents you can check against the address.

Where to go next

See how it varies: Izard County, AR, Southampton County, VA, Elmore County, AL.

Signs of a sinkhole under a house, and how inspection works · No limestone, but still holes: pseudokarst explained