Tag Archives: remediation

Repairing Sinkholes

How to Choose Foundation Repair Companies

How to choose foundation repair companies

When it comes to having your house repaired after the presence of a sinkhole, it may be daunting to search for foundation repair companies that will do the job well.  How can you tell the good companies from the bad? How do you find a foundation repair company that you can trust with your home?

Choosing your foundation repair company

When shopping for foundation repair companies, the first thing you’ll do is put them against each other. Seek out several bids or quotes from different companies to see what situation you’re looking at. For each company that bids, ensure they are licensed and fully insured.

Another great way to feel more confident about the process is asking for references. A good quality repair company will helpfully provide you with contact information for past clients, and provide you with any other kinds of information you request in order to feel confident in them. If they shy away from helping you feel comfortable, feel free to take another direction.

Also, check if they’re accredited by the Better Business Bureau. You might also look up public records to see if the company has ever been sued. All this information is readily available to the public, so don’t get stumped by a company with a record!

If you’re having a hard time finding a repair company you trust, ask your engineer (you will require an engineer to supervise the work) if they have any contacts with companies they trust. You can ask them for recommendations, or you may approach them with a company you’ve chosen and see if your engineer has any experience working with them.

After you make your choice

Once you’ve chosen a foundation repair company that you feel confident is, don’t be afraid to be present while the work is being performed. While you may not necessarily know exactly what’s going on, or what a quality job looks like, your presence at the work site may help to make sure the work is done properly – we all stand a little straighter when our boss is watching!

Throughout this process, remember that just because your home was repaired does not mean you will never be faced with sinkhole activity again. Not only is the possibility ever present, but a home with a history of sinkhole activity is more difficult to get insurance coverage for, and even an insured home may not be very well covered if sinkhole activity persisted.

With this in mind, it is incredibly important that the repairs are done properly to prevent another, bigger headache.

Insurance Policies and Coverage Issues

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation Loses Its Mail

Citizens’ latest issue

Being an insured with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation isn’t easy. You are dealing with a large, overburdened company, who frankly, would probably prefer you be insured with someone else.  Otherwise, where would they get their famous moniker, the “insurance company of last resort?”

In the most recent bout of ‘uglies from Citizens’, we find a new report that even the mail is having trouble finding itself into the maze that is Citizens. Apparently, Citizens is reporting that it had difficulty processing the payments it received from its insureds during the month of June.

If you mailed in your payment directly to Citizens any time during the month of June, it would be wise to confirm it has cleared the bank.  If you mailed in payments between June 14 and June 18, you should probably call them directly.

The details

The report follows on the heels of learning that mail normally sent to the headquarters appears to have been fraudulently forwarded to an apartment in Hialeah, Florida. The exact scope of the fraud is still under investigation but any Citizens insureds would be smart to double check any payments or other mail sent to Citizens during this time period.

The hotline to resolve this issue is (888) 685-1555. Citizens spokespeople have used this opportunity to point out how technology has evolved to the point where making payments online is actually more secure than via mail these days.

How to know if you’ve been affected

If Citizens did not receive an expected payment from you, you would likely have received a notice.  If you have the payments made from an escrow account, as many people do when they pay their mortgage, you would receive a notice from the mortgage company threatening to buy insurance on your behalf.

Regardless, I would suggest you be proactive, so as to not cause any disturbance in coverage.  If you were to let your coverage lapse, you would likely lose your sinkhole coverage altogether.