It is getting pretty redundant and somewhat annoying to hear insurance companies complain that they want the homeowners to repair their house and don’t want to write checks for settlements. Every insurance adjuster and every lawyer representing them seem to think that every homeowner that files a sinkhole claim makes a big pay day, pays [...]
Displaying posts written by
Morgan Barfield
who has written 244 posts for Sinkhole Damage Blog.
May
9
2012
9
2012
May
8
2012
8
2012
State Farm doing away with appraisals
We have had some lengthy discussions in the past about the appraisal process and what it means and the advantages and disadvantages. State Farm was by far and away the most common user of the appraisal process. Appraisal is not a statutory obligation so for the insurance carrier to demand it, it must be included [...]
Apr
24
2012
24
2012
The USAA “structural damage” ship continues to sink
Everyone knows that USAA long ago took a stance that if a home does not exhibit structural damage (as they defined it) they could deny coverage. The problem is, again as we all know, is that the policy doesn’t define what structural damage means. USAA was making up its own definition, a very narrow one [...]
Apr
23
2012
23
2012
Will insurance companies pay for underpinning?
Q: I just found out 4 weeks ago that I have sink hole activity.My insurance comapny has not denied the claim however they want to grout my home and I do not agree with this kind of repair on my $700,000 home. I have no MTG. They currently want to give me $200,000 for both [...]
Apr
11
2012
11
2012
Barfield and Corless get breakthrough win in Ocala against Tower Hill
Some background on the case is important before we discuss the results. My clients purchased a home in Ocala. Unknown to them or Tower Hill, there had been a prior claim made on the house. My clients noticed damage to their home that appeared to be sinkhole related and filed a claim with Tower Hill. [...]
Apr
2
2012
2
2012
What is an EUO and why do I have to do it?
Q: For an Examination Under Oath (EUO), what can/can’t an attorney do for a claim filer? Can they interject into the questionning? Also, is the insurance company required to provide a reason for requesting the EUO if asked for an explanation? An EUO is a contractual animal that virtually every insurance policy will contain. Essentially [...]
Mar
30
2012
30
2012
Tower Hill takes another hit at trial
Not many details on this yet but we know Tower Hill, after losing a trial just several months ago in Hernando County, decided to try it again. This time they tried a different county, Polk, and a different lawyer representing them and got the same result. A denied sinkhole claim they have to pay for [...]
Mar
26
2012
26
2012
Why does Citizens take so long and what do I do?
Boy do we hear this question a lot. Let me stick up for Citizens for just a brief second first off. Citizens is by far the largest insurer in the state and often times forced into insuring risky homes in risky areas. By default then Citizens assumes more bad policies than any other insurance company. [...]
Mar
24
2012
24
2012
How do you lose 650 cubic yards of grout?
Q: My home has just been grouted for the second time. 8 years ago we had a major sinkhole 73 trucks of concrete. 8 years later the engineers were NOT able to find any traces of concrete under my home. How do you lose 650 cubic yards of concrete? This is a great question that I [...]
Mar
22
2012
22
2012
Follow up to can I sue my insurance company for the lost value to my home?
Q: My home has just been grouted for the second time. Our home although we are fixing it again at the request of the insurance company has lost value. Is there anything that can be done? We addressed the question of whether you can sue an insurance company for lost value in our last post [...]
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