A view of the sinkhole in the National Corvette Museum. Photo courtesy of the National Corvette Museum.
A legislator has filed legislation that would require more insurers to offer coverage for sinkhole damage.
Rep. Jody Richards (D-Bowling Green) has filed House Bill 498 that would require insurers who offer property insurance to offer an additional policy rider covering sinkhole damage for an additional premium.
Richards filed the legislation Thursday.
Richards said he decided to file the legislation because a number of his constituents called him with concerns about sinkholes and asked him to file the bill.
Concerns about sinkholes were likely sparked by the sinkhole collapse at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green that swallowed eight Corvettes on display in the skydome area of the museum, he said.
“Of course the Corvette situation has been so highly publicized,” he said.
More minor sinkholes have developed around the county, which also might have helped create concerns about sinkhole damage, Richards said.
Both Tennessee and Florida have similar sinkhole insurance laws, and Richards said he looked at both of those laws before putting one together for Kentucky. He also spoke with insurers and the Kentucky Department of Insurance while researching the bill.
While some insurers do provide sinkhole insurance, House Bill 498 would require more insurers to provide it and create a lower price for that insurance in the process, he said.
Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville, has signed on as the first co-sponsor of the legislation.
The legislation likely will be sent to the House Banking and Insurance Committee, but it has yet to be assigned to a committee, Richards said.
Despite a busy session with work on a biennial budget, he said he believes the bill has a chance of passing. That’s partly because of the attention drawn to the issue because of the sinkhole collapse at the National Corvette Museum.
Many of the people he encounters in Frankfort are anxious to hear about the sinkhole collapse and recovery, Richards said. Sinkholes also form in many different areas of the state, he said.
“I think we could get a lot of co-sponsorships,” Richards said.