How Long Do You Have to File a Home Insurance Claim in Florida? Every Deadline Explained

Short answer: In Florida you have 1 year from the date of loss to give your insurer notice of a new or reopened property claim, and 18 months to give notice of a supplemental claim, under section 627.70132, Florida Statutes. For hurricane and other weather damage, the date of loss is the landfall date or the date NOAA verifies the event. Your insurer has its own clock: it must acknowledge your claim within 7 days and pay or deny it within 60 days of your notice, unless something outside its control prevents it.

Your deadlines as a homeowner

Florida shortened its claim-notice windows in recent reform laws. The current rule in section 627.70132 is simple to state and easy to miss:

• New claim or reopened claim: 1 year. Notice must reach your insurer, in the way your policy requires, within 1 year after the date of loss. A reopened claim is one the insurer already closed that you ask to reopen for more money for damage you had already reported.
• Supplemental claim: 18 months. A supplemental claim is for extra loss or damage from the same peril that the insurer already adjusted, or for costs that came up while repairs on a timely claim were under way.
• Condo loss assessments: special rule. If your condo association assesses owners after a covered loss, notice of a loss assessment claim must be given within 1 year of the loss or within 90 days after the board votes the assessment, whichever is later, and never more than 3 years after the date of loss.

Miss the window and the statute says the claim is "barred." That is why the safest habit is to report damage as soon as you find it, even if you don't yet know how big it is. You can always add a supplemental claim later; you cannot revive a late one.

What counts as the "date of loss" after a hurricane?

For hurricanes, tornadoes, windstorms, severe rain and other weather events, the statute fixes the date of loss as the date the hurricane made landfall or the date the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration verifies the weather event. That matters in Florida because storm damage is often found weeks later: a slow roof leak shows up in January from a September storm. Your 1-year clock started in September.

Practical tip: write down the named storm and its landfall date in your claim notes. If you are not sure which event caused damage, tell your insurer what you know and when you found it.

What doesn't change

• Your policy may require faster notice. Most homeowners policies say to report a loss "promptly." The statute sets the outer limit; it does not excuse a long delay that hurts the insurer's ability to inspect.
• Lawsuit deadlines are separate. The statute says it does not affect the time limits for filing a lawsuit in section 95.11. If you are thinking about suing, talk to a Florida attorney early.
• Military deployment pauses the clock. The time limits are tolled while a named insured servicemember is deployed to a combat zone or combat support posting that materially affects their ability to file.

Your insurer's deadlines

Section 627.70131 puts the insurer on a clock too. Unless factors beyond its control apply (such as a state order after a major hurricane), the insurer must:

1. Acknowledge within 7 calendar days any communication about your claim, and send claim forms, instructions and a phone number if it is a new claim.
2. Begin its investigation within 7 days after it receives your proof-of-loss statement.
3. Inspect within 30 days after receiving proof of loss, if a physical inspection is needed. The adjuster must give you their name and state adjuster license number.
4. Send you any detailed estimate within 7 days after its adjuster generates it.
5. Pay or deny within 60 days after it receives notice of an initial, reopened or supplemental claim, with a written explanation. If it pays less than its own estimate, it must explain the difference in writing.

Late payments generally carry interest from the date the insurer received notice of the claim. The statute says these rules cannot be waived by the policy.

A simple claim timeline you can follow

Keep a claim log

The statute requires insurers to keep dated records of every claim communication, inspection and estimate. Do the same. A one-page log with dates, names, what was said and what you sent makes it far easier to show when the insurer's deadlines started running. Save your photos with the date visible, keep receipts for emergency repairs and temporary housing, and keep copies of everything you send.

Before a storm, it also helps to know your hurricane deductible and whether your policy pays replacement cost or actual cash value. If you don't know where those live, our guide to reading your declarations page walks through it.

If you think your claim is being mishandled

The Florida Department of Financial Services runs a free consumer helpline and mediation program for residential property claims. Mediation can be requested for many disputed claims, and DFS can explain your options. For legal questions, including whether a deadline has passed, speak with a licensed Florida attorney.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Section 627.70132, Florida Statutes (notice of property insurance claim)
• Section 627.70131, Florida Statutes (insurer's duty to acknowledge and investigate)
• Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Consumer Services

General information, not legal advice or a coverage determination. Your policy wording controls. Last reviewed 2026-10-27.