My insurance company is currently working with a local contractor to repair confirmed sinkhole activity at my house. During the process, the damages appear to be getting worse, and I am hearing the contractor raise concerns that the repair may not be taking as they had expected. Any suggestions?
Repairing sinkhole activity, speaking as a sinkhole lawyer, can be complicated, and most certainly is frustrating.
The process takes a long time, often causes even more damage, and there is no guarantee that the sinkhole repair will work. Most of the time, property owners feel as though they are alone in the process, as the insurance company acts more like a bank than providing good sinkhole insurance for repairs.
First suggestion: Document the entire process, either by photos or by video. As the process begins, and progresses, you should monitor the process either with a still camera or a video. I have found that the most common question relates to whether the subsurface repairs are actually causing the damages to worsen, which does occur. By recording the repairs, you will be able to get a sense of “before and after.”
Second suggestion: Always raise your concerns with the insurance company in writing, both to your claims adjuster and your insurance agent. Many times, insurance claim representatives have a difficult time separating what is a “problem” versus what is just common frustrations of an insured. If you submit your concerns in writing, and tell them exactly what you want them to do, it makes it clear you have defined your expectations. That way, you will both know if the issue has been resolved.
Third suggestion: Consider hiring your own contractor or consultant to monitor the success of the project. The reason is that the insurance company will almost always have someone there to monitor the project to assure it is being done according to the plans set up by the engineer. Even if it does cost you some money out of pocket, you will have a better feel if you know an independent party is present to assure the work is being done correctly.
In the end, document the entire process, put your concerns in writing, and hiring a third party consultant will serve you well. Best of luck to you.
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as a California property owner can do about earthquakes. While there are things we can do as communities to avoid creating these problems, the individual homeowners must focus on gathering as much sinkhole information as possible so they can protect their investments. Certainly, the news was flooded with reports about Plant City sinkholes caused by the over-pumping of water near strawberry fields, which triggered a lot of damage. We are also aware of homes being impacted by