Claims deadlines and submittals are no longer easy for Florida policyholders. Thanks to many recent legislative changes, which many Florida’s politicians wholeheartedly supported, Florida policyholders now have intricate claims requirements that can spell doom for them and allow insurance companies loopholes to avoid paying otherwise valid claims.

It’s hard to keep up with all the changes to Florida Statute § 627.70132(2) in the past three years, but the relevant version of this statute, which affects Hurricane Ian claims, states the following:

(2) A claim or reopened claim, but not a supplemental claim, under an insurance policy that provides property insurance, as defined in s. 624.604, including a property insurance policy issued by an eligible surplus lines insurer, for loss or damage caused by any peril is barred unless notice of the claim was given to the insurer in accordance with the terms of the policy within 2 years after the date of loss. A supplemental claim is barred unless notice of the supplemental claim was given to the insurer in accordance with the terms of the policy within 3 years after the date of loss.

Supplements for already made hurricane Ian claims still have one more year under that version of the statute, but beware that any loss occurring after December 16, 2022, falls under the current statute, which I discussed in Beware of Claims Deadlines! Florida Condominiums Have Supplemental and Reopened Claims Statute Deadlines.

The two-year notice to submit a claim from Hurricane Ian is due next week. On September 28, 2024, the deadline will pass, and policyholders in Florida will be barred from making a Hurricane Ian claim.

If you have not made a claim for damages suffered from Hurricane Ian, you have only a few days to make it. If you need some tips on what you should do, read our eBook on Filing a Property Insurance Claim.

We highly recommend that if you are submitting an estimate with the notice of claim, that the estimate include all damages and all portions of the property which have been damaged resulting from Hurricane Ian. This is to provide notice to the insurance carrier of the full extent of the loss and all the coverages that may apply to the claim.

We have noticed that many of the policyholder and public adjuster submitted claims have estimates are missing coverages, items of damage, don’t fully list all the damages, do not list the properties consistent with the schedule of values with commercial policies, and other significant problems because the list and estimates are not full or complete.

In ALL Hurricane Ian cases, it is imperative to ensure the proper scope of damages, including all of the building components, are part of an estimate, whether prepared by a public adjuster, insurance restoration contractor, or estimator. All proper coverages being claimed (RCV and ACV submittals for real property, contents, additional or other structures, Ordinance & Law, ICC, Business Income Loss, Extra Expense, Debris Removal, Rental reimbursement, Additional Living Expense, etc.), as well as estimates for those should be identified consistent with the schedule of values and coverages noted in the declaration pages and within the policy. By doing so, policyholders will be in a better position to prevent the loopholes for avoiding coverage, which we expect property insurers will argue in the coming months.

Florida politicians may have been duped by insurance company lobbyists about the impact of the legislation that they passed and Governor DeSantis signed into law. There are already pending cases about these laws, which were allegedly made to prevent insurance fraud and are now hurting innocent condominium associations, homeowners, and small businesses. Insurers will argue that under the new laws, all the claimed amounts and coverages that were not accurately or thoroughly reported with complete estimates are not part of the claim and cannot be claimed.

Florida is the only state in the union that has passed these draconian loophole laws. Insurance companies are now unleashing their attorneys to use the loopholes to deny portions of otherwise acknowledged valid claims.

If you are a public adjuster or policyholder, please take time to double-check your Hurricane Ian claim submissions to make certain all of your coverages are demanded in writing to the insurer, along with a complete list of all the damaged property and estimates or claims for each. The deadline to do so and avoid those devilish insurance companies, who will prey upon their own customers by using these loopholes, is upon us.

Thought For The Day 

I’m always careful. I check, I double-check, and I re-double-check. Sometimes my mind may wander, but my eyes are always wide open.
—William Steig