Tampa Sinkhole Attorney – How to Make A Sink Hole Claim 813-222-8210
TAMPA Sinkhole Attorney
SINKHOLE CLAIMS AND LAND SETTLEMENT CLAIMS
Tampa Sinkhole Lawyers Real Estate Attorneys at the Galewski Law Group, P.A. use their long history in real estate and insurance claims to protect your home or investment property against sink hole damage. Sinkhole claims are unique in the insurance claim industry, because the insurance industry has lobbied for so many years to exclude them from policies. Truth is even if your insurance policy specifically excludes sinkhole claims, you may have a right to have the company repair your home or pay off your mortgage. Specifically most all insurance policies must insure against a catastrophic loss. If you have a true sinkhole, and there is insurance on the home, you should have coverage.
Currently a number of insurance companies are fighting against your right to make a claim under your sinkhole coverage. Citizens, State Farm and several other companies appear to have entered into a pattern of denying anything other catastrophic damage. This is an inappropriate position for them to take. If your home has cracking, staircase marks, problems with holding water in your pool or other leaking that may indicate settling, it could be the start of something catastrophic and you should not wait until your home is lost to make a claim and repair or prevent further damage. Sinkhole or settlement claims can impact your home, business or investment home. Even a tenant in a commercial building or rental home may have a claim against the insurance company if there is settlement or other damage caused by a sinkhole. Most insurance companies will deny claims or give poor excuses. Recently we litigated a case because the insurance company said that the settlement was caused by cavities under ground and not by sinkholes. Regardless, the home was settling into a cavern that formed beneath the ground and the insurance company was forced to pay for the repairs. Sinkholes may present themselves as snake lines through cinder blocks, foundation or wall cracks, driveway cracks or other marks on a building. If you have made repairs to the same wall or roof area for leaks, or if your swimming pool is leaking it may be a sign of a sinkhole. Similarly depressions in the ground, cracked concrete or tile and or other signs of “settling” could be much more. Finally if your neighbor of someone in your are has a sinkhole chances are your home could have a problem — very often a sinkhole could cover an entire neighborhood. It is best to contact a sinkhole attorney right away to let us have our experts do a free evaluation of the damage. Sinkholes can be found anywhere in the Tampa Bay Area or anywhere in Florida.
We have successfully handled sinkhole cases in South Hillsborough, Gibsonton, Riverview, Springhill, Hudson, Land O’ Lakes, Lakeland, Clearwater, St. Pete, Tampa, Lutz, and throughout Florida including Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties. Typically it is better to have your mortgage up to date and to be current on your insurance premiums, but even if you are behind on the mortgage, or in foreclosure and have not paid the insurance, or the insurance is part of an escrow payment you are not making, we may be able to date the damage back to when there was an active policy and still have the sinkhole covered or have money paid to you. The cost of a sinkhole claim may be in the tens of thousands or more.
We will typically front these costs for you and because of the cost we typically take these cases on a contingency and do not get paid unless we win. Costs could include an independent evaluation of the cause of the sinkhole, third party construction inspections and estimates to counter the amounts proposed by the insurance company, expert witnesses or engineers and general litigation costs. To learn more about Sinkhole claims and real Estate Rights: Real Estate Sinkhole Claims Sinkhole Questions: Does the Galewski Law Group work with insurance adjusters. Answer: We are happy to work with the insurance adjuster of your choice or to bring in our own people if they are needed. Typically this will not increase the cost of the service because we will tailor our fee around the adjuster’s fee. Most of our sink hole work is based on the settlement or judgment value and our clients do not pay directly for our services so our involvement normally is not an out of pocket expense for the client. Before someone worries about how much it may cost to have an attorney help them, they should first understand how much it could cost to not have an attorney on their side. We are happy to offer free consultations and to discuss the issues that you may face. Recently we needed to deny a case because the party accepted a check from the insurance company before receiveing counsel — they lost out on the funds for much needed repairs including all cosmetic damage. Call for a free sink hole case evaluation. 412 E. Madison Street * Suite 1106 * Tampa, FL 33602 * Stan “The Man” Galewski * www.Galewski.com * 813-222-8210
