Displaying posts written by

Morgan Barfield

who has written 244 posts for Sinkhole Damage Blog.

Mar
21
2012

Can I sue Citizens for the loss of value to my home?

Q: I am selling my house…buyers had engineer inspect back deck and engineer determined hollow and sinking underneath and cracking on walls…said foundation was safety hazard and had to reduce price by around $6000.. Turned in claim to florida citizens..they sent adjuster but they sent me certified letter stating that their investigation may take many months..the [...]

Feb
17
2012

Barfield Law Group set to merge with Corless Associates

For some time those that follow this blog have noticed my references to Ted Corless or his web page at www.csalegal.com. Ted Corless was the founding parter of Corless Associates in 2002, one of the largest and most well respected insurance law firms that specialized in sinkhole claims. Corless Associates defended insurance companies such as [...]

Feb
17
2012

Tower Hill continues to take hard stance against homeowners, they’re “all in”

The best way to sum up Tower Hill’s attitude recently is with a case we have pending in Marion County. In this case, Tower Hill denied the claim for months while they investigated whether they could deny it for some reason even though sinkhole activity was found at the property. After months of litigation and [...]

Feb
16
2012

Barfield Law Group becomes newest sponsor of the Ocala Speedway

The Barfield Law Group has always enjoyed a relationship with the Bubba the Love Sponge Show and has developed friendships with the show cast as well. Now finally, the two are able to work together as Barfield Law Group will be one of the premiere sponsors at the Ocala Speedway owned by Bubba the Love [...]

Feb
14
2012

Neutral evaluators are left scratching their heads

A simple yet very confusing issue has come up recently with the neutral evaluation process. When a neutral evaluator is assigned a new file he or she is provided with a one page standard form from the Department of Financial Services to complete when they are done. The form provides two boxes they can check: [...]

Feb
12
2012

Powerful ruling on structural damage comes out of the Middle District in Bay Farms v. Great American; no retroactive application of Bill 408

Judge James Whittemore who sits in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida just issued a wonderfully well thought out opinion on the structural damage issue here in Florida. The opinion that was filed on December 7, 2011 is entitled Bay Farm Corporation vs. Great American Alliance Insurance Company. The facts [...]

Feb
10
2012

Second District Court of Appeals puts dagger in constitutionally argument against NEP

An opinion was filed by the Second District Court of Appeals on December 30, 2011 in the case of Cruz and Chirino v. Cooperative De Seguros Multiples De Puerto Rico. The facts of the case are relatively standard in that the homeowner disputed their attendance at neutral evaluation and challenged the constitutionality in front of [...]

Feb
9
2012

Tower Hill gets what they asked for

You might detect a bit of happiness in reporting this blog as Tower Hill lost at trial this week, big too. Tower Hill has for a year now threatened every homeowner that filed a claim that they were going to take every case to trial. Tower Hill also believes that homeowners and the attorneys that [...]

Feb
2
2012

Never sign a release alone

It doesn’t happen as often as it does with personal injury claims but slowly we are starting to see insurance companies ask for releases from sinkhole claims directly from the homeowners. With personal injury cases it is not uncommon at all for the insurance adjusters to offer a minimal amount of money, usually $500 or [...]

Jan
29
2012

Citizens begins slow downsizing effort

New reports indicate that Citizens has started the slow decent into fewer policies and currently is down by 18. It doesn;t sound like a lot but Citizens is happy to actually be downsizing compared to upsizing for the first time in a long time. Currently Citizens insures nearly 1.5 million homeowners in Florida. The goal [...]