Sinkhole Claim Timeline

My Insurance Company Denied My Sinkhole Claim

Chapter 627.707, Florida Statutes, requires insurance companies to engage expert geological or engineering companies to conduct testing to confirm or eliminate the presence of sinkhole activity. When a homeowner files a claim that may involve sinkhole damage to a home, many times the insurance company will hire a company to test the property for sinkhole activity.

Type Of Testing

Sinkhole testing should involve two phases:

The first phase involves a detailed inspection of your home, from top to bottom, inside and out. The testing company should conduct a survey of your home, dig a number of shallow "hand auger" holes, dig a test pit along the foundation, and conduct geophysical tests such as Ground Penetrating Radar or Electrical Resistivity.

A few weeks later the testing company will come back with a large drill rig for the second phase of testing. They should drill Standard Penetration Test ("SPT") bore holes in at least three locations around your home, ranging fr\
om five feet deep to over a hundred feet deep, drilling until the drill rig reaches extremely dense bedrock.

Denied Without Drilling?

Did your insurance company deny your claim for damage without doing any drilling? Sometimes insurance companies will try to save money by not conducting the full range of tests required under Florida law. Often when they do, the insurance company will send an adjuster or an engineer out one time to your home, but they will not send a large drill rig and drill deep bore holes. Most of the time when this happens, the engineer will write a three or four page report, and the insurance company will take that report and use it as an excuse to deny your claim. This behavior - the refusal to conduct testing required by Florida Statute - is known as a Drive By Denial because the insurance company failed to perform deep drill borings. If your insurance company has denied your claim without conducting a full multi-part investigation, including deep drilling, contact the Byrne Law Group immediately at 813-413-6565 to discuss your rights and options.

Learn more about Drive-By Denials by clicking here

What To Do If Denied

If your claim is denied for whatever reason, you have few options left and you probably need to talk to a lawyer with experience in handling sinkhole claims. Attorney John Byrne with the Byrne Law Group has worked with almost FOUR HUNDRED homeowners in helping to resolve their sinkhole damage issues - call him for a FREE consultation to learn about your options at 813-413-6565.

Independent Review Of Data

The Byrne Law Group can arrange for an independent expert geologist or geotechnical engineer to review the findings prepared by the testing company the insurance company hired. Remember - the insurance company is the one who chooses the geologist or geotechnical firm who does the testing - do you really think that testing company is independent? They're PAID by the insurance company and they probably aren't too likely bite the hand that feeds them! Often a review by an independent expert, not paid by the insurance company, can reveal startling information the insurance company's expert "overlooked."

If an independent geologist or geotechnical engineer, after reviewing your report or conducting their own testing, cannot rule out the possibility that sinkhole activity impacting your home, the Byrne Law Group will move to quickly file a lawsuit against your insurance company.

Breach Of Insurance Policy

An insurance policy is a contract - a contract between you and the insurance company. When an insurance company denies a claim it should have covered, the insurance company has breached their contract with the homeowner! The lawsuit is called a breach of contract action and it alleges that the insurance company had an obligation to cover damage to your home, but they wrongfully failed to do so, and they are now liable for the cost of repairing the damage at your home, in addition to paying attorney fees and costs for forcing you to hire an attorney.

Once the breach of contract lawsuit is filed, sit back and wait! Because the court system is so slow and backed up, it will likely be a couple months before anything happens. After three or four months, however, the insurance company's lawyers will likely want to take the deposition of everybody living in the home. [LINK TO WHAT IS A DEPOSITION].

Structural And Cosmetic Repair Estimates

The Byrne Law Group will likely engage a structural engineer to prepare a remediation estimate for subsurface - or below ground - damages. Additionally, a licensed general contractor will prepare an estimate to repair cosmetic damages - the above ground cracks and damage to your walls, doors, floors and windows. These estimates form the basis of the breach of contract suit against the insurance company.

Trial Date

After a number of months, and perhaps a few depositions later, the Judge will schedule your case for a jury trial. When the judge schedules your case for trial, he or she will often Order that both sides - you and your insurance company, attempt to settle the lawsuit at mediation.

Mediation

This is when things finally start to happen! Approximately 80% of sinkhole claims seem to resolve themselves at or shortly after mediation. If the insurance company comes to mediation and offers you a fair amount of money that you can live with, and if you choose to accept their offer, your lawsuit quickly ends. Within twenty to thirty days your money will be available.

If the insurance company doesn't offer you enough money at mediation or settlement talks to make you happy, mediation is impassed and the lawsuit continues. At this point both sides start preparing for a jury trial. Informal settlement talks may continue between the lawyers, and more depositions and discovery is conducted.

Jury Trial? Rare.

Finally, the trial date arrives. In reality, probably about three cases out of every thousand actually make it to a jury trial - jury trials are VERY rare. But if your case makes it to a jury trial, a jury of six people you have never met before will listen to your side of the case and your insurance company's side of the case, and they will decide if they think you have a sinkhole or not. Sinkhole jury trials last about three days, and it's impossible to predict what a jury will do.

If the jury agrees with you, you win! The insurance company must pay you what the jury awards you, up to a maximum amount of your policy limits. So even if the jury awarded you One Million Dollars in damages, if your insurance policy had limits of only One Hundred Thousand Dollars, you would only receive about One Hundred Thousand Dollars. Additionally, under Florida Law, since the insurance company forced you to go to a jury trial, since you won you get an added bonus - the insurance company must pay your lawyer bills! This means that you get to keep most, if not all, of your money!

On the other hand, if the jury agrees with your insurance company, you lose. In other words, Game Over.

Get More Information

This is a very basic summary of the process for denied sinkhole claims. There are many variables in any lawsuit, and outcomes are very unpredictable. To gain a grasp of your specific situation, call John Byrne for a FREE consultation. Attorney John Byrne has helped hundred of homeowners with their sinkhole problems, and in a stress-free, no obligation phone call or in-person meeting he can review your case and offer you potential options. Call today to talk to John Byrne or arrange an appointment by calling 813-413-6565 right now!

If your insurance company "confirms" you have a sinkhole, that means they accept coverage for damage to your home caused by sinkhole activity. s coverage of your sinkhole claim