The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) reports that insurance claims for sinkhole damage have tripled in recent years, increasing from 2,360 claims in 2006 to 6,694 in 2010. In 2011, the state's insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., collected about $51 million in sinkhole-related premiums, but paid out more than $136 million in related claims, sucking up capital needed to pay for other natural catastrophes such as hurricanes.

Damage from sinkholes resulting in a building collapse is usually covered under Ground Cover Collapse policies. Every property insurer in the state must provide this coverage, states law firm Marshall Thomas Burnett. The requirement doesn't extend to other sinkhole damage, however. Thus, if a home experienced foundation cracks due to sinkhole activity but is still safe for living, it may not be eligible for payout without added Sinkhole coverage.

“The collapse that took place in Clermont won't likely be covered under a Sinkhole, but Catastrophic Ground Loss, policy,” says Michael Peltier, spokesman for Citizens, which did not insure the damaged building. “When something falls into the earth, and is swallowed by it, it is considered Catastrophic Ground Loss in both basic residential and commercial coverage. For Citizens, Sinkhole would be an optional coverage for cracked plaster and settled foundations determined to be caused by sinkhole activity.”

According to the DEP, heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Debby in 2012 triggered a mass formation of sinkholes. The storm broke out in June following a prolonged drought in Florida, and the sudden influx of rainwater caused dried-out underground voids to collapse.

In March 2013, a sinkhole opened in the Tampa area, swallowing the bedroom of a home and a 37-year-old man within it. His body was never recovered.

In 1981, a 320-foot-wide and 90-foot-deep sinkhole swallowed a two-story house, part of a car dealership and an Olympic-sized swimming pool near Orlando. The site is now an artificial lake.