Overview
As a result of underground mining, millions of structures in Pennsylvania are located over old, abandoned underground coal and clay mines.
Mine Subsidence Insurance pays for losses from earth movement. It covers damage from the collapse of underground coal and clay mines in Pennsylvania.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection offers this coverage because homeowner's insurance usually does not provide coverage.
How to Apply for Mine Subsidence Insurance
If your home is at risk, coverage is available and affordable. Residential coverage of $150,000 costs $41.25 a year. Since 1961, the Mine Subsidence Insurance program has paid out over $36 million in homeowner claims.
Coverage is for complete and under-construction buildings, appurtenances, and incidental losses from a loss. Mine subsidence coverage is available from $5,000 to $1,000,000.
You should insure your home for its replacement value plus 20%. This covers losses to appurtenances and incidental costs. Residential coverage costs about 27 cents for every $1,000 of coverage.
- Use the premium calculator to estimate your premium.
- Apply for Mine Subsidence Insurance coverage.
- Check your application status, policy status, or renew.
The Mine Subsidence Insurance (MSI) Fund does not disclose nonpublic personal financial information about its customers to nonaffiliated third parties except as permitted by law. Learn more about confidentiality.
- Print application (PDF)
- Print Rate Chart (PDF)
Mine Subsidence Insurance
First, find out if your home is at risk of sitting top of an abandoned mine.
Then, fill out the MSI Site-Specific Request Form to request information about underground mining at your location.
Only insurance producers with property and casualty authority in Pennsylvania may submit Mine Subsidence Insurance applications. They will receive payment for implementing policies.
Visit the DEP's Insurance Producers website where insurers can create an account and submit applications.
You can also contact us via email to request an insurance certificate.
The Mine Subsidence Insuring Agreement defines mine subsidence. It is the movement of the ground surface due to the collapse of underground coal or clay mines.
This includes the roof, floor, and pillars of those mines linked to the tunnels and voids created by extracting coal and clay.
A Mine Subsidence Insurance Policy covers damage caused by mine subsidence. Coverage also extends to losses from the movement of the ground due to a sudden and unexpected discharge of water, known as a mine water blowout. For further explanations of coverage, please refer to the Insuring Agreement.
Mine subsidence features usually take the form of either sinkholes or troughs. Sinkhole subsidence is common in areas overlying shallow room-and-pillar mines. Sinkholes occur when a mine roof collapses into a mine opening. This causes the overlying ground to cave in, creating a depression in the surface.
Most sinkholes develop where the cover is less than 50 feet. The cover is the vertical distance between the coal seam and the surface.
This type of subsidence is usually localized. It affects a small area of the overlying surface. However, sinkhole subsidence often causes severe damage to structures and surfaces. It can be quite dramatic and costly. Sinkhole subsidence has caused extensive damage to many homes and properties.
Sinkholes are usually linked to abandoned mines. Most active underground mines are too deep to cause sinkholes.
The DEP will not allow underground mining beneath structures where the overburden is less than 100 feet (30.5 m), per current regulations. This is unless a subsidence control plan shows that the mine workings will be stable and will not damage the structures.
Subsidence troughs induced by room-and-pillar mining can occur over active or abandoned mines. The damage from surface impacts can be similar. However, the causes of the subsidence are very different.
In abandoned mines, troughs usually occur when the overburden sags. This can happen due to failed, remnant mine pillars. Or the pillars may have punched into a soft mine floor or roof.
It is difficult to predict if or when an abandoned mine will fail. Abandoned mines may collapse decades after mining ends. This is true if the mine workings were not designed for long-term support.