Today's Letters: Let voters decide on ride program
By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published October 2, 2007
Broken promise, fewer rides Sept. 30 story
I was assured this problem would be taken care of, but as is normal with government, it was only a Band-Aid. These commissioners would find the proper funding if members of their families were involved in the ride program. This is a county of seniors. Many, myself included, desperately need this service.
Pasco seniors pay taxes and use Medicare in their golden years. If they can't get to the doctor, we are going to cut short those years for some. The service picks up the blind and the mentally challenged to get them to centers to enrich their lives.
How heartless can our elected officials be? With the unbelievable building going on in our county, let some of the millions of dollars in impact fees, taxes and other fees associated with new construction be mandated to fully fund this program.
Let the voters decide if this program is worthwhile. If we leave it in the hands of our elected officials at the county and state levels, we are doomed to failure because they have no personal stake in this issue.
All of our elected officials should be ashamed. I hope as they age they don't need a program like this. If they do, I can only hope they remember the way they are treating us.
Joseph Kuhn, Holiday
Resist ads encouraging sinkhole claims fraudSept. 23 editorial
Get the facts on sinkhole coverage
The Florida Association of Sinkhole Stabilization Specialists applauds the editorial. You are right; the sinkhole repair industry should not encourage insurance fraud. We can assure you that this practice is not widespread and that the actions of a few do not represent the actions of the majority.
Many of our members have been working in the sinkhole industry in west-central Florida for many years. Many of us are licensed, professional geologists and/or geotechnical engineers. We are concerned that homeowners may not have all of the information they need to make a fully informed decision regarding their insurance and their sinkhole coverage.
The most common type of sinkhole in our region is the cover-subsidence sinkhole, which forms slowly and is often invisible under a home's foundation. This is the real sinkhole most common in our area, not the catastrophic ground-cover collapse sinkhole that the legislation will cover. Your home will need to be condemned by government authorities to be covered by insurance under the new law.
The legislation means that homeowners without sinkhole insurance, who start to see growing cracks in their homes that are a result of confirmed sinkhole activity, will have to pay on average $65,000 for repairs that were once considered standard coverage.
Homeowners need to realize that the 516 sinkhole claims paid out ($42-million) in Pasco and Hernando counties by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. were for legitimate, confirmed sinkholes. And this represents just one insurance company's claims. It is estimated that there have been 1,000 confirmed sinkholes last year in Pasco County alone.
When homeowners notice cracks in their walls or floors, or when a home's doors and windows won't open properly, homeowners naturally call their insurance company because the home has an obvious problem.
The insurance company then calls a professional. Using advanced testing measures sanctioned by the state of Florida, a licensed geologist or engineer determines the cause of the problem. Sometimes it's underground materials like clay causing the problem, but in many cases in Pasco and Hernando and in northern Hillsborough County, the problem is caused by sinkhole activity.
It is only after a professional confirms sinkhole activity that the insurance company will fix the problem.
Sinkholes are a real problem in Pasco and Hernando counties. Homeowners living in Pasco are three times more likely to have their homes affected by a sinkhole than by a fire.
Members of the Florida Association of Sinkhole Stabilization Specialists encourage homeowners to educate themselves about sinkholes in their communities. Research your neighborhood and talk to your neighbors. Talk to your insurance agent, but do not only rely on him or her for all of your information. Ask your agent what will be required if you opt out now, but want to opt back in at a future date. Get the answer in writing.
Talk to your mortgage company and ask if you eliminate your comprehensive sinkhole coverage now, will you be required to get it back in the future? Make sure you get this answer in writing.
Finally, talk to the experts in the industry. The Southwest Florida Water Management District has information about sinkholes. The state of Florida has a sinkhole ombudsman, David Fisher, who works in the Department of Financial Services.
The decision you make today regarding your insurance coverage may be final and unchangeable. Make sure you know all the facts before making this important decision.
Ron Broadrick,vice president,Florida Association of Sinkhole Stabilization Specialists, Land O'Lakes
Good foundation stops sinkholes
Having read many of the letters on insurance, it's quite evident we're being taken for financial gain by legal crooks in the insurance industry. We can drop our sinkhole coverage to catastrophic. Yeah, right!
No one will mention that Pasco and Hernando counties were like the Stone Age 20 years ago. Just look into the fact that there was no building department or a very limited one at best. I've been in the building trades for 35 years, and was in disbelief when my nephew, who had a sinkhole, told me his home had no footers under it. It was built on a 4-inch slab like a sidewalk.
There has never been a day when you could put a building on 4 inches of concrete with no support under it and expect it to hold up. With buried trash, tree stumps, etc., under them it was a recipe for disaster. Well, here it is. Many of the sinkhole claims wouldn't be necessary if proper foundations were used.
Bill Durnell, Holiday