Tampa Bay Sinkhole Attorney Ted Corless Gives Florida Homeowners' Side on Sinkhole Insurance

TAMPA, FL, January 05, 2012

With more than a decade of experience helping Tampa-area homeowners recover for sinkhole damage to their homes, Attorney Ted Corless, of Corless Associates, wants to clear the air related to recent coverage of sinkhole claims and insurance 'abuse' by policyholders. In the first of three articles to be run by the Tampa Bay Times, sinkhole insurance is characterized as the "Great Florida Sinkhole Lottery;" examples of Florida homeowners receiving payment for losses due to sinkhole damage and using the money for other purposes than repairing the damaged home are used to support the "lottery" title.

As an experienced Florida sinkhole attorney, Ted Corless doesn't represent "lottery winners." He works with homeowners throughout the Tampa Bay area, including the hard-hit Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas Counties, when sinkhole activity damages their homes. Corless Associates works with homeowners who've paid their insurance premiums with the expectation that they were protecting themselves from sinkhole damage but whose insurer denied their claim, made shoddy repairs or otherwise didn't hold up their end of the bargain.

The purpose of the Tampa Bay Times article, highlighting the problems with sinkhole insurance coverage, seems to be to paint homeowners in "Sinkhole Alley" as profiteering off sinkhole damage at the expense of other insureds, county revenues and the state of Florida as a whole. But, the real focus should not be on what a homeowner who has paid his or her premiums decides to do with money received under an insurance policy. The focus should be on insurance as a business, and a business that must be profitable despite the number of sinkhole claims being made simply because it still continues to exist and operate within the state of Florida.

Sinkhole claims attorney Ted Corless takes exception on his blog, The Verdict, to the way the Tampa Bay Times article paints homeowners as being in the wrong when considering their own financial situation, including the existence of mortgage debt and property values, rather than putting the needs of the community or future owners of the same home first to determine the best use of an insurance payout. A homeowner's insurance contract, whether for sinkhole coverage or other type of damage, is an agreement between the insurer and the insured. The insured pays a monthly, semi-annual or annual amount of money to its insurer for the right to collect an insurance payout if an insured event, like a sinkhole, causes damage.

"It's One Giant Mashed Potato."

The Florida legislature attempted to stop the rising amount of sinkhole claims when it passed Senate Bill 408. But, the new law does little more than muddy up the playing field, according to sinkhole lawyer Ted Corless. The new law is "One giant mashed potato," Corless was quoted as saying in the Tampa Bay Times article. Discouraging valid claims while at the same time encouraging litigation by exempting sinkhole settlements from stabilization requirements won't make the sinkhole problem improve or go away.

Corless Associates Represents Florida Homeowners With Sinkhole Damage

At Corless Associates, homeowners, not the insurance companies, come first. Visit the firm online at www.czlegal.com or call 813-498-1623 to discuss your sinkhole damage claim with a Florida law firm that believes insured homeowners who've had valid claims denied are those who should be protected and fought for in the battle against sinkholes, not the insurance companies.