Insureds and their representatives maintain the right to select the engineering firm to repair their property. If the damage to an insured building is indicative of sinkhole activity, the insurance company shall be obligated to conduct a subsidence investigation to determine whether the damage is sinkhole activity, and whether there are any other causes for the damage. Should it find sinkhole activity, the engineering firm engaged by the insurance company must prepare a repair recommendation as to stabilize the land and repair the foundation. Section 627.707(5)(a), Florida Statutes. This repair recommendation will be sealed by an engineer (not a contractor), who must approve the actual plans to do the repair. In simple terms, the engineering company will make a generalized statement regarding method of repair (grouting, grouting and pinning, or pinning only), but will not necessarily present a specific "this is how you fix it" in the report you receive. A contractor that specializes in sinkhole repairs ultimately completes this.
Once the engineering firm completes its evaluation and presents this report, the insurance company may do two things: (1) do the repairs themselves (referred to as "election to repair"), or (2) wait for you to get bids from contractors. As long as the repair method designed by the contractor is consistent with the recommendations of the original engineering firm, an insured should have no difficulty in getting the insurance company to pay for the repairs.
The first area of conflict at this stage is that the original engineering firm would have made their recommendations based upon certain assumptions, many of which may not end up being accurate. For example, their estimate for the quantity of materials is highly variable because the calculation methods are less than accurate. In such situations, the insurance company and the insured can end up with a dispute, even though the company has agreed to pay for the repairs.
Note: You may not agree with the method of repairs being suggested by your insurance company; and you may need to explore this with your own engineer, or with an attorney who understands sinkhole claims.
If you have a situation requiring legal representation for a sinkhole damage claim, contact Corless Associates' Florida personal injury law firm at 877-517-5595.
