If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. Rep. Byran Nelson (R-Apopka) tried once already this year to take away homeowner’s insurance for sinkhole damage. Benefiting his vast insurance industry donors, Nelson tried to pass HB 1447 last month that would have limited sinkhole coverage to 25% of a home’s insured value. Vast public outcry caused HB 1447 to die. And for good reason: without sinkhole insurance, homeowners would be devastated by sinkhole damage and unable to make repairs, real estate values would further suffer, sinkhole damaged homes would remain unrepaired and vacant hazards, and cities and counties would suffer.
But on the day HB 1447 died, insurance lobbyist Bob Lotane threatened that the insurance industry would be back to do away with sinkhole coverage before the legislative session ended (http://www.flanews.com/?p=8832). And sure enough, Nelson and Lotane have worked to ensure anti-homeowner anti-sinkhole coverage provisions were inserted and hidden in the back of a new and otherwise innocent bill, HB 447 (different than the prior HB 1447).
HB 447 was a technical bill dealing with obscure things such as the annual reporting requirements of Florida’s Consumer Advocate. But it was modified in committee to deprive Florida homeowners of the option to have sinkhole insurance that actually provided meaningful insurance. Among other things, HB 477 has been amended to:
- Allow insurance companies to deny claims unless a home is structurally unsound.
- Take away a homeowner’s right to have ANY say in how their home’s repair.
- Prevents the homeowner from getting a second opinion by forcing repairs to start quickly.
- Allows insurance companies to withhold the sinkhole test results from homeowners.
- Changes Florida Court Rules and Evidence so that any expert hired by the insurance company is automatically presumed to be correct, but any expert hired by a homeowner is presumed to be wrong.
- Changes the burden of proof in a court case so that the homeowner must prove not only that the homeowner has a sinkhole, but the homeowner must also prove by clear and convincing evidence that the insurance expert is wrong.
- Allows insurance company to use experts with who may be unfair to homeowners – and it takes away the homeowner’s right to do anything about it.
- Allows insurance companies to delay trials.
Nelson claims this bill stops sinkhole fraud – but he can’t explain how! How does a homeowner file a fraudulent sinkhole claim? It’s impossible. Disagreeing over the method of sinkhole repair or disagreeing over damages is not fraud.
For A SUMMARY OF HB 447, and more information about this bill, sinkhole insurance, sinkhole activity, Rep. Nelson’s insurance campaign contributions, how it impacts real homeowners, call 813.481.9875 or visit www.SinkholeTruth.com
The protection offered by building and contents insurance, may cover a expensive home and all of its contents against a huge range of risks, but if you are one of the many people struggling to afford the mortgage that comes with a new home your first home then there are various government initiatives to help, it is not hard to find them.