Hurricane Damage Florida Claim Guide. Public Adjuster.

Hurricane Damage is a Florida property insurance claim category. Hurricane claims are the highest-volume and highest-dollar Florida claims. Wind, storm surge, wind-driven rain, and cascading water damage all fall under hurricane claims, each with different coverage rules.

Move one is paper, not ladders. I request the complete file in writing: the engineer's full report with every photo and his assignment letter, the field adjuster's full Xactimate estimate including the photo report, the adjuster log, and the underwriting file. That last one is the move most people skip. The four-point and wind mitigation inspections in underwriting are dated photographs of that roof taken before the storm, sitting in the carrier's own cabinet. The homeowner thinks he has no pre-storm photos. He has better ones than he would have taken himself.

Move two is the roof, and I document mechanism instead of opinion. Lifted shingles means seal strip failure, so I hand-lift on a grid across every slope and record where the bond released and where it held. Creased tabs, mat fracture at the nail line, backed-out or displaced fasteners, and a count per slope. The leeward slope is my control. Wear degrades a roof evenly. Wind does not. Move three is tying wind to that address on that date. Nearest ASOS peak gust, radar, track, and the date the interior staining appeared.

Then the part that usually ends it. They offered interior only. If they are paying for water damage inside two rooms, they have already conceded that water came in from above. Their own payment contradicts "no storm-created opening." That is not my argument, it is theirs, and it is in their file.

A 2019 re-nail to current code means a licensed inspector went up on that roof, documented deck attachment, and signed his name to it. The carrier then used that document to rate the policy and take a credit off the premium. So the position is: this roof was good enough to insure and good enough to discount three years ago, and it is "prior wear" now that there is a claim. Florida Statute 626.9744 requires the carrier to make reasonable repairs or replacement of items in adjoining areas when replaced items do not match in quality, color, or size. The statute lets the insurer weigh cost against the uniformity achievable, and it applies unless your policy provides otherwise, so the endorsement language on your specific form matters as much as the statute does. Most of them settle before the panel meets, because the impeachment is in their file, not mine.

— Eli Goins, Florida licensed public adjuster #P159790. Ocean Point Claims Company (FL DFS #W829547).

If your hurricane damage claim is delayed, underpaid, or denied, a licensed Florida public adjuster under FS 626.854 can review the policy and the carrier's scope. Your Homeowner Claim Bill of Rights spells out what the carrier owes you. See also FS 627.70131 on carrier duties, FS 627.70132 on notice deadlines, and FS 626.9744 on matching requirements.