Tenn. bill would require sinkhole coverage

Tenn. Rep. Mike McDonald has filed a bill that would require insurance companies that write homeowners insurance to include damage caused by sinkholes as a covered occurrence. The Legislature convenes this month.

McDonald’s bill is in response to reports over the past two weeks describing the plight of Portland, Tenn., residents Troy and Yvonne Givens.

While the couple slept Nov. 29 a large sinkhole opened up under their house swallowing their home, possessions and family heirlooms.

The Givens’ awoke to discover that much of their house had fallen into a giant hole. The sinkhole began beneath the utility room. It moved to the back of the house, but continued to spread, moving to the front and causing the porch to fall.

The couple waited anxiously to find out if their insurance will cover them, but learned it won’t cover them for the damages.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do. I have no idea how we’ll pay for this,” Troy Givens told the Portland News-Examiner. Hartford Insurance has denied the Givens’ claim, the company is working to help him, but he worries that the answer will stay “no.”

In the meantime, they are staying with family. “Everything they have is invested in their home and their home falls into the ground,” McDonald said. “They expect their insurance company to do something about it and the insurance company evidently does not plan to do anything about it.

“I think we need it in the law that homeowners’ insurance companies cover sinkhole damage for people just like the family affected in Portland,” McDonald said. “I know the family personally. I think it is terribly wrong, and I just think we’ve got to require insurance companies to cover that type of damage.”

Topics Tennessee