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Mine subsidence damage: an Illinois claim that runs for years

When an old coal mine under the house gives way, the ground can keep moving long after the first crack. Your insurer pays the claim, a state fund investigates it, and the file can stay open for years. We represent you, the homeowner or building owner, from the first report to the final repair payment.

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  • The sag: a shallow bowl in the ground, often hundreds of feet across
  • Rock over the mine
  • Coal seam: rooms mined out, pillars left to hold the roof. The wide room in the middle is where a pillar gave way.
Not to scale. The movement climbs from the mine at an angle, so a house beside the void can be pulled too.

Five parties can touch one mine subsidence claim

This claim is not handled like a hail or water claim. The Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund reinsures your insurer and runs the investigation of cause, but its own brochure says that once cause is decided your insurer "controls the claim valuation and settlement process." Here is who is on the file and whose side each one is on.

Your insurer's claim adjuster

Works for the insurer

Opens the claim, approves temporary repairs and advances, and decides the final figure.

The Fund's designated adjuster

Assigned by the Fund

Checks the mine maps, photographs and measures the damage, and writes estimates that your insurer may accept, change or reject.

The geotechnical investigator

A geologist or engineer for the Fund

Surveys ground levels, sometimes sets small survey screws or a deep survey point, and needs your permission for any drilling.

IDNR Abandoned Mine Lands

State safety agency

Handles danger: a house that may be unsafe or a gas leak. Springfield office 217-782-0588; after hours IEMA at 800-782-7860.

State Adjusting Services

Works for you

We read your policy and endorsement, keep the dates and receipts that decide the money, price the damage ourselves, and present every request to your insurer in writing.

A claim measured in years, not weeks

The intervals below come from the Fund's claim investigation and after-confirmation brochures. Your file will keep its own pace, but the order of events is the same for most homes.

  1. You report itThe day you see it

    Call your agent or insurer and give the date you first noticed the damage. Only insurers that contract with the Fund can start the investigation.

  2. First inspectionWeeks

    The designated adjuster visits, reviews the mine maps and either rules mine subsidence out or recommends a geotechnical study. You can ask for that study if you disagree.

  3. Ground surveyReadings every 4-6 months

    The Fund says a decision often takes 8 to 12 months or more of readings. Write down every visit.

  4. Advance paymentFrom one year after damage could first be seen

    Once cause is confirmed, you can ask for an advance on the damage done so far. It comes out of the same limit as everything else.

  5. Yearly surveysUntil movement stops

    The Fund re-surveys each year with your permission and tells your insurer when the damaging movement has ended.

  6. Final settlementAfter the ground is still

    A final repair estimate is priced. Until you repair, payment is held to actual cash value; replacement cost may follow once repairs start, depending on the policy.

The limit is set on the day anyone could first see damage

Mine subsidence endorsements commonly carry three rules, quoted in substance in the Fund's brochure. Together they mean that every payment before the permanent repair shrinks what is left for it.

  • One amount for the whole eventThe limit in force when damage first became reasonably observable caps the claim, even if the movement lasts through many renewals or a sale.
  • One occurrenceDamage from one subsidence, or from several that are continuous, counts as a single loss.
  • The lower of two figuresThe dwelling limit on your declarations page or the statutory maximum for mine subsidence, whichever is lower. That maximum has been raised several times, so ask your insurer for today's figure in writing.

The money that leaves the limit early is real money you need: temporary repairs, an advance, and the hotel or rent if the house cannot be lived in. Our page on the additional living expenses claim shows how those receipts are kept. And because the final payment is held at actual cash value until you repair, it helps to know how ACV and replacement cost differ before that estimate arrives.

Mine or soil: the question every one of these claims turns on

The Illinois Insurance Code defines mine subsidence as ground movement caused by a failure at the level of a man-made underground mine, and then lists what it does not include. The same crack can sit on either side of that line, which is why the investigation takes so long.

Counts as mine subsidence

  • Sinking or sideways movement started by a collapse in a coal, clay, limestone or fluorspar mine
  • Damage to the house or commercial building it reaches
  • Driveways, sidewalks, basements, footings, foundations, septic systems and the underground pipes serving the building, per the state's definition of a structure

Left out by the definition

  • Earthquake, landslide or volcanic eruption
  • Soil conditions, soil erosion, freezing and thawing
  • Improperly compacted soil and construction defects
  • Roots of trees and shrubs
  • Collapse of storm or sewer drains and rapid transit tunnels

Most homeowners policies exclude earth movement of every kind, so if the Fund rules the mine out, the claim usually ends there. Our guide to the earth movement exclusion and foundation cracks explains what can still be covered when the cause is something else, such as a leaking pipe under the slab.

The first dateWhen you, or anyone, first noticed a crack, a sticking door or a sound. It sets the limit.
Photos with a rulerEach crack, the same spot every few weeks, so widening shows.
Every visitWho came, for whom, what they measured, and what they said.
Every receiptDoor adjustments, sealant, plumber, gas utility work, rent. All of it is claimed.

The 34 counties where this coverage is already in the policy

In these counties the Fund lists the coverage as mandatory: insurers must include it in residential and commercial policies unless the owner rejected it in writing. Elsewhere in Illinois insurers must offer it, so it may be on your policy or not. Look for a separate mine subsidence line on your declarations page.

  • Bond
  • Bureau
  • Christian
  • Clinton
  • Douglas
  • Franklin
  • Fulton
  • Gallatin
  • Grundy
  • Jackson
  • Jefferson
  • Knox
  • LaSalle
  • Logan
  • Macoupin
  • Madison
  • Marion
  • Marshall
  • McDonough
  • Menard
  • Mercer
  • Montgomery
  • Peoria
  • Perry
  • Putnam
  • Randolph
  • Rock Island
  • Saline
  • Sangamon
  • St. Clair
  • Tazewell
  • Vermilion
  • Washington
  • Williamson

The list is the one published by the Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund. To see whether a mine lies under or near an address, the Illinois State Geological Survey keeps an online mine map; the Fund's page gives its phone line, 217-333-3222.

Selling a house while the ground is still moving

Some owners cannot wait a decade to move. The claim can go with the house, but two Illinois laws and one document come into play, and each is a question for a real estate attorney. We keep the claim side in order so the attorney has the numbers.

Mine Subsidence Disclosure Act (765 ILCS 95)
The seller discloses in writing to the buyer and the lender every insurance claim paid for mine subsidence on the property.
Residential Real Property Disclosure Act (765 ILCS 77)
The seller discloses material defects the seller actually knows about.
Assignment of claim rights
A signed document that can pass future payments to the buyer. The total for both of you stays capped at the limit in force when damage was first seen, less what was already paid.

What to send us for a free review

We read the file and tell you plainly what we would do next. 4.9 from 34 Google reviews, on our reviews page.

  • Your declarations page and the mine subsidence endorsement
  • The date you first saw damage, and your photos since
  • Letters from your insurer and any designated adjuster or geotechnical report
  • Receipts for anything you have already paid for

We are licensed Illinois public adjusters, not attorneys, and we do not do ground surveys. We handle the claim with your insurer. If structural damage has already left a large repair ahead, our page on large loss claims shows how a big file is run.

Start with four fields

Prefer to write more? Use the full form. We use your details only to review your claim.

Questions owners ask about mine subsidence claims

Does homeowners insurance cover mine subsidence in Illinois?

Not under the usual earth movement wording. It is a separate mine subsidence coverage, included in residential policies in 34 counties unless the owner rejected it in writing, and offered everywhere else. Your declarations page shows whether you have it.

Who decides whether my damage was caused by mine subsidence?

The Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund investigates, through a designated adjuster and, when needed, a geotechnical investigator. Once cause is decided, your insurer values and pays the claim.

Can I get paid before the ground stops moving?

Yes. You can ask for an advance once the Fund has confirmed mine subsidence and at least one year has passed since the damage was first reasonably observable. The advance reduces what is left of the limit.

Should I repair the foundation while the house is still moving?

Not permanently. Make temporary repairs that keep the house safe and usable, agree them with your insurer's adjuster, and keep every receipt. Permanent repairs come after the Fund finds the movement has ended.

Can a public adjuster help with a mine subsidence claim?

Yes. The claim is made under your own policy, and we represent you with your insurer: we read the endorsement, keep the dates and payments that set the limit, price the repair and present each request in writing.

What does a mine subsidence claim cost me?

You pay us nothing up front, in the first year or while you wait for the ground to settle. Our fee is a share of each insurance payment on the claim, at the rate set in our signed contract. No payment from the insurer means no fee.