Hurricane Ian was the most expensive private insurance event in Florida history. When the storm crossed the coast on September 28, 2022, it caused $21.39 billion in insured losses across 776,941 claims, per the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, with the Business Observer reporting 93.7 percent closure by mid-2024. The 6.3 percent that are still open are mostly the claims where the association board did not act fast enough, did not document the damage well enough, or did not understand a rule that changed in late 2022. Hurricane season starts again in 17 days. Your board needs to know what to do on Day 0, Day 7, Day 30, and Day 60 — because in Florida property insurance, those four days decide almost everything.
This article is general information about Florida property insurance and is not legal advice. Filing a hurricane claim, deciding whether to invoke appraisal, negotiating a settlement, or pursuing a bad-faith claim are fact-specific decisions that require your association's attorney, your broker, and possibly a licensed Florida public adjuster. Always engage counsel before signing anything in the days after a storm.
The 60-day calendar starts on landfall
This is the single rule your board must internalize before the next storm. Under Florida Statute 627.70132, the date of loss for hurricane claim purposes is the date the hurricane made landfall, not the date you discover the damage. That means the 1-year clock for filing your initial claim notice starts the day the eye crosses the coast, even if your maintenance team does not find roof damage until week three.
Your pre-storm preparation work — secured documents, current photos of the property, board contact tree, broker information ready — lives in our Florida HOA hurricane season checklist. This article picks up where that one leaves off: the moment the storm has passed and the claim filing begins.
The three deadlines every board confuses
Florida law sets three separate deadlines on every hurricane claim. They are not interchangeable. Boards routinely conflate them and end up filing the wrong document at the wrong time. Here are the three, in plain English.
| Deadline | What it means | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year from landfall | Your board's deadline to give the carrier written initial notice of the claim. After 1 year, the claim is barred even if damage is real. | FS 627.70132(2) |
| 18 months from landfall | Your board's deadline to file supplemental claims for additional damage from the same storm that comes to light later. | FS 627.70132(2) |
| 3 years from landfall | NEW in 2024. Condominium association loss-assessment claims (deductible passthrough to unit owners) have their own 3-year window, with a separate 90-day rule from the date the board votes to levy. | FS 627.70132(4) |
Pre-2023 articles, training materials, and even some attorney blogs still cite the old 2-year and 3-year windows. They were shortened by SB 2-A in December 2022. If your manager or property administrator is working from a 2021 binder, the clock she thinks she has is twice as long as the clock she actually has.
The new 3-year loss-assessment window (added 2024)
This is the change almost no one knows about yet. Chapter 2024-139, Laws of Florida, added subsection (4) to FS 627.70132. The amendment created a separate, longer timeline for one specific type of claim: a condominium association's loss-assessment claim against a unit owner's HO-6 policy.
The new rule has two parts:
- Hard 3-year outer cap from the date of loss for the loss-assessment claim to be noticed
- Plus a parallel "later of" rule: notice must be provided by the later of (a) 1 year from the date of loss or (b) 90 days after the board votes to levy the assessment
In practice, this gives your board time. Hurricane damage that turns out to be more expensive than initially expected, or master-policy claim payments that take 18 months to settle (not uncommon for major hurricanes), no longer create a window-expired problem on the unit-owner side. But the 90-day post-vote rule is a trap: if your board waits 14 months after a storm to vote the assessment, the owners' HO-6 carriers can deny on timing grounds. Vote sooner rather than later, document the vote in board minutes, and notice the levy in writing within the 90-day window.
What your insurer owes you in the first 60 days
Once your initial notice is filed, your insurer is on a statutory clock just like you. Under FS 627.70131, your carrier must:
- Within 7 calendar days: acknowledge receipt of your claim in writing
- Within 7 days of receiving proof of loss: begin investigation
- Within 30 days of receiving proof of loss: conduct any physical inspection of the property
- Within 60 days of receiving the claim notice: pay or deny the claim — or pay statutory interest under FS 55.03 if late
The 90-day extension that older articles describe is no longer automatic. SB 2-A capped any extension at 30 additional days, and only by a formal Florida Office of Insurance Regulation order. The 60-day deadline is now meaningfully harder for carriers to extend than it was before December 2022.
Send a written request for an update citing the missed deadline. Log every call with the adjuster's name and license number. After Day 60 without payment or denial, contact your broker first. If the broker cannot resolve the delay in 7-10 days, escalate via the FL Department of Financial Services consumer complaint line at myfloridacfo.com. The complaint creates an OIR record without filing a Civil Remedy Notice or starting litigation — an important intermediate step before counsel becomes necessary.
The deductible passthrough math
This is the section your unit owners will not read but will absolutely call you about. Under FS 718.111(11)(j), all property insurance deductibles are a common expense of the condominium — meaning the association can levy a special assessment to fund them, and each unit owner is responsible for their proportionate share. The math is brutal because Florida hurricane deductibles are calculated as a percentage of the total insured value, not a flat dollar amount.
Total hurricane deductible = 5% of $10,000,000 = $500,000. Divided equally across 100 units = $5,000 per unit assessment.
Each unit owner's HO-6 policy is required by Florida Statute 627.714 to include at least $2,000 in loss-assessment coverage with no more than a $250 deductible. So the owner's HO-6 covers $2,000 of the $5,000 assessment.
Out-of-pocket gap per owner: $3,000. Owners who upgraded their loss-assessment endorsement to $25,000 or $50,000 (common upgrade, modest premium) pay nothing out of pocket. The owners who did not upgrade write a check, often unexpectedly, often loudly.
Three operational implications for the board:
- Communicate the math to owners before a storm hits, not after. Owners who hear about the $3,000 gap during hurricane season have time to upgrade their HO-6 loss-assessment endorsement (typically $50-$150 in extra annual premium for a $25,000 limit). Owners who hear about it after a storm hear about it via your collections department. The board can also attack the master-policy side — see how to lower your association's insurance premium and run a disciplined insurance renewal.
- Watch for the per-occurrence vs. per-season trap. Some Florida master policies apply the named-storm deductible per occurrence. In 2024, when Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Florida within 13 days of each other, some carriers applied the deductible twice. Your broker can confirm whether your policy is per-occurrence or per-season — do this before the next storm.
Documentation: what records your board must keep
The single biggest factor that predicts whether a Florida hurricane claim settles for full value or gets argued for two years is documentation. Your insurer's adjuster will arrive within 30 days of your proof of loss. By then, debris has been removed, emergency repairs have started, and a lot of the original damage is no longer visible. The board's records are the evidence base for everything that follows.
Keep these:
- Date-stamped photos and video of every common-area damaged structure, taken before any cleanup begins. Drone footage of roofs is especially valuable.
- Pre-storm condition records — the most recent SIRS, milestone inspection, and roof inspection reports. These establish "before" condition.
- Every vendor invoice for emergency mitigation — tarping, water extraction, mold remediation, debris removal. These are recoverable under most policies if documented.
- Board meeting minutes documenting emergency repair decisions made under FS 718.1265 (condo emergency powers) or FS 720.316 (HOA emergency powers).
- Every communication with the carrier or adjuster — emails, written summaries of phone calls including the adjuster's name and license number, copies of any correspondence sent or received.
- The original policy and any endorsements — the policy in effect on the date of loss, not the current renewal policy.
Florida HOA records must be maintained for at least 7 years under FS 720.303(5); condo records under FS 718.111(12) follow similar retention — see our guide to Florida condo and HOA website compliance for how those records must now also be posted online. A hurricane claim file should be treated as a permanent record of the association even after the 7 years — if the next storm hits the same roof, you will need the prior claim file.
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Should your board hire a public adjuster?
A public adjuster is a licensed Florida professional (FS 626.854) who represents the policyholder — not the insurer — in negotiating a claim. The economics: a good public adjuster usually nets the association significantly more than their fee, particularly on master-policy claims over $250,000 where the documentation work is substantial. The bad ones cost the association money without adding value. Knowing the rules helps you tell them apart.
The fee cap (verified, current as of May 2026)
Florida Statute 626.854(11)(b) caps public adjuster compensation. The rate depends on whether the loss is tied to a Governor's declared state of emergency:
- 10 percent of claim payments during the 1-year period after a Governor's emergency declaration (the cap that applies to almost every hurricane claim filed within the year after landfall)
- 20 percent of claim payments for non-emergency claims or claims filed more than 1 year after the declaration
- 1 percent if the carrier has paid or committed to pay policy limits within 14 days of loss or 10 days of the contract
- 0 percent if the carrier paid or committed before the PA contract was signed
Compensation cannot be based on the deductible portion of the claim. The "rate cannot increase merely because the claim is litigated" rule prevents the PA from layering fees on top of attorney fees. Standard 10-day cancellation rights apply, extended to 30 days after the date of loss (or 10 days after contract execution, whichever is longer) for emergency-related claims, under FS 626.854(7).
When to hire one
- Claim exceeds $250,000 master-policy payout — the documentation work scales fast and the carrier's adjuster has a workload incentive to settle low.
- Carrier adjuster has missed the 7-day acknowledgment or the 30-day inspection — a PA can re-anchor the workflow.
- Master policy is placed in surplus lines — surplus-lines carriers do not always have local Florida adjusters and the claim handling can be slower.
- The board has no internal expertise — volunteer treasurers and presidents are rarely insurance-claim experts; a PA can carry the workload.
When NOT to hire one
- Claim is straightforward and under $100,000 — the 10 percent fee may exceed the PA's marginal value.
- The carrier has already offered a fair settlement — the 0 percent and 1 percent fee categories suggest the statute itself wants to discourage PA engagement when the carrier is paying without dispute.
- The board has skilled counsel handling the claim — an attorney handling the claim and a PA charging on top can stack fees beyond what the claim economics justify.
Whatever you decide, get the PA contract in writing in 12-point type with the FS 626.8796 fraud-warning disclosure in 18-point bold. Verify the PA's license at FL DFS licensee search before signing. PAs handing out forms at the gate after a storm are the ones to ask the hardest questions of.
Assignment of Benefits agreements are effectively dead in 2026. Under FS 627.7152, AOBs are permitted only on property policies issued or renewed between July 1, 2019 and January 1, 2023. Every active Florida property policy has been renewed since then, so AOBs are unenforceable on every current claim. Restoration contractors still circulate AOB forms (sometimes labeled “Authorization to Repair” or “Direction of Payment”) in the days after a storm. The forms are not enforceable, but signing them can create confusion about who is authorized to negotiate with your insurer. Send any vendor with an AOB form to your association’s attorney before signing anything beyond a basic emergency-services agreement.
Appraisal: the quiet power lever (and trap)
Almost every Florida property insurance policy includes an appraisal clause. When invoked, each side picks an independent appraiser; the two appraisers pick a neutral umpire; the umpire's decision (or any two of the three) sets the loss amount, binding both sides. Appraisal is faster than litigation, cheaper than litigation, and can move a stuck claim. Before SB 2-A, it was almost always the right move on a disputed claim.
After SB 2-A, appraisal carries a hidden cost that almost no pre-2023 article mentions. Under FS 624.1551, no bad-faith claim may be brought against an insurer unless the insured has first obtained an adverse adjudication — a final judgment after a fully-contested breach-of-contract lawsuit. Acceptance of an offer of judgment does not qualify. Acceptance of an appraisal award does not qualify either. That means a board that invokes appraisal and accepts the resulting award has, in the process, given up the ability to pursue a bad-faith claim even if the insurer's prior conduct was egregious.
And under FS 624.155(3)(f), a Civil Remedy Notice cannot be filed within 60 days after appraisal is invoked by either party. The 60-day pause is meant to give the appraisal process time to work; in practice, it slows the litigation alternative significantly.
If the disputed amount is significant AND the insurer's conduct looks like it might support a bad-faith claim (slow response, lowball offer, inadequate investigation), invoking appraisal forecloses that future leverage. Boards facing both a coverage dispute AND insurer-conduct concerns now need to make this call with counsel before invoking. The decision is no longer "appraisal is always cheaper" — it is genuinely strategic.
Pre-suit notice and the new bad-faith rule
If your claim has gone bad and litigation looks likely, FS 627.70152 requires a written pre-suit notice of intent to initiate litigation. The notice runs through the Florida Department of Financial Services on a department-supplied form. Two timing rules:
- 10 business days minimum between the pre-suit notice and filing the breach-of-contract suit
- 10 business days for the insurer to respond in writing after receiving the notice
- 14 business days after the insurer's response if the insurer asserts a right to reinspect the property
The pre-suit notice cannot be filed before the insurer has issued a coverage determination under FS 627.70131. In other words, if your insurer is still legitimately investigating within the 60-day window, the pre-suit notice clock has not started.
The new bad-faith rule (the most important change for boards)
Under FS 624.1551, added by SB 2-A, an extracontractual bad-faith damages action cannot be brought against a Florida property insurer until the insured has obtained an adverse adjudication — meaning a court of law has held that the insurer breached the contract and entered a final judgment against the insurer. Acceptance of an offer of judgment under FS 768.79 does not count. Payment of an appraisal award does not count. Settlement during litigation does not count.
The practical effect for Florida boards: the leverage that previously came from threatening a Civil Remedy Notice (and the punitive damages that followed) is much weaker in 2026. The Civil Remedy Notice process still exists, but the breach-of-contract case has to be filed, fully litigated, and won — before the bad-faith claim becomes ripe. Most boards settle the underlying claim long before reaching that point, which means bad-faith damages are largely off the table for typical board-level disputes. One nuance worth knowing: if your case does go all the way to a breach-of-contract win, the gap between your insurer's appraiser estimate and the eventual appraisal award can be cited as evidence of bad faith. The shift is documented in detail by Chartwell Law and the Cozen O'Connor Property Insurance Law Observer.
A 60-day board action calendar
This is the day-by-day playbook. Map your board's actions to your insurer's statutory obligations.
| Day | What your board does | What your insurer must do |
|---|---|---|
| 0 (landfall) | Document everything with date-stamped photos and video before any cleanup. Convene emergency board meeting under FS 718.1265 (condo) or FS 720.316 (HOA). Authorize emergency mitigation. Notify management and broker. | (Statutory clock starts) |
| 0–3 | File First Notice of Loss via carrier portal (Citizens at citizensfla.com) or private-carrier equivalent. Keep claim number. | Most carriers auto-acknowledge portal submissions. |
| By Day 7 | Begin organizing proof of loss documentation. | Acknowledge claim in writing (FS 627.70131(1)(a)) |
| By Day 7 after POL | Submit complete proof of loss with vendor invoices, photos, and damage inventory. | Begin investigation (FS 627.70131(3)(a)) |
| By Day 30 after POL | Make adjuster on-site access easy. Have management and engineering present. | Conduct physical inspection; adjuster identifies herself and license number (FS 627.70131(3)(b)) |
| By Day 60 | Track every communication. Log adjuster name and license per call. | Pay or deny the claim (FS 627.70131(7)) — or pay statutory interest under FS 55.03 |
| Day 60–90 | If unpaid, request written explanation. Consider DFS mediation under FS 627.7015 (available for commercial-residential policies including condo master policies, though rarely used for large losses). | OIR may extend up to 30 additional days for factors beyond the insurer's control (no longer automatic) |
| Day 90–365 | Vote and document any deductible assessment within 90 days of decision. Record minutes. Notice the levy. File supplemental claims as discovered damage warrants. | Process supplemental claims |
| By Day 365 | Final deadline to notice the initial claim (FS 627.70132(2)) | — |
| By Day 540 (18 months) | Final deadline for supplemental claims (FS 627.70132(2)) | — |
| By Day 1,095 (3 years) | Final deadline for condo loss-assessment claims (FS 627.70132(4), new in 2024) | — |
Key takeaways
- The 60-day clock starts on landfall, not when you discover damage. Your insurer must pay or deny within 60 days of receiving the claim notice. The 90-day extension that older guides cite was eliminated by SB 2-A; only a discretionary 30-day OIR extension exists now.
- Three deadlines, not one. 1 year for initial notice, 18 months for supplemental claims, 3 years for condo loss-assessment claims (the new 2024 amendment). Each is independent. Each is fatal if missed.
- The deductible passthrough math will surprise your owners. A 100-unit condo with $10M TIV and a 5 percent named-storm deductible passes $5,000 to each owner. The statutory $2,000 minimum HO-6 loss-assessment coverage leaves a $3,000 gap. Owners who upgraded their HO-6 endorsement to $25,000 are protected; those who did not write large unexpected checks.
- Public adjuster fees are capped at 10 percent during an emergency-declared period, 20 percent otherwise, under FS 626.854(11)(b). Compensation cannot be based on the deductible. The 10-day cancellation right extends to 30 days for emergency-related claims.
- Appraisal forecloses bad-faith claims under SB 2-A. Accepting an appraisal award does not constitute the adverse adjudication required by FS 624.1551. Boards facing both a coverage dispute and insurer-conduct concerns must make this call with counsel before invoking appraisal.
- AOBs are effectively dead. Restoration contractor "Authorization to Repair" or "Direction of Payment" forms are unenforceable under any post-January-2023 Florida property policy.
- Documentation is the claim's evidence base. Date-stamped photos before cleanup, vendor invoices for mitigation, board minutes documenting emergency-power decisions, and every adjuster communication logged with name and license number.
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