Florida Homeowners Insurance Laws: The Rules That Change What You Do (2026)

One year. Under s. 627.70132, Florida Statutes, a new or reopened homeowners claim is barred unless you give the insurer notice within 1 year after the date of loss, and a supplemental claim within 18 months. Until December 2022 those limits were 2 years and 3 years. That single change tells you how much Florida's property insurance rules have moved since 2021.

Between 2021 and 2023 the Legislature passed four big bills that changed claim deadlines, claim handling, roof rules, assignment of benefits, attorney fees and who can stay with Citizens. Most homeowners never read any of them. This page is the short version: one section per law, what it says, when it changed, and what you should actually do about it. Where this blog already has a deeper post, I link to it instead of repeating it.

Source: s. 627.70132, s. 627.70131 and s. 627.70152, Florida Statutes (2026).

The laws at a glance

If you only read one thing on this page, read this table. Each row is a rule that changes what you do, not just what the insurer does.

Source: Florida Statutes (2026) on flsenate.gov; ch. 2022-271 (SB 2-A); ch. 2023-15 (HB 837); ch. 2021-77 (SB 76).

Claim notice deadlines: 1 year and 18 months

The statute splits claims into three kinds (s. 627.70132(1)):

• A new claim, and a reopened claim (one the insurer closed that you reopen for more costs on damage you already reported): notice within 1 year after the date of loss.
• A supplemental claim (additional damage from the same peril the insurer already adjusted, or costs that came up while finishing repairs under an open claim): notice within 18 months.

For a hurricane, the date of loss is the date it made landfall, not the day you noticed the stain on the ceiling (s. 627.70132(3)). The notice also has to be given "in accordance with the terms of the policy," and many policies ask for prompt notice. Treat the statute as the outer wall, not the plan.

This is notice to the insurer, not the deadline to sue. A lawsuit for breach of a property insurance contract has its own 5-year limit from the date of loss under s. 95.11(2)(e).

The deadlines got shorter twice. SB 76, effective July 1, 2021, set notice at 2 years after the date of loss and supplemental claims at 3 years (ch. 2021-77). SB 2-A, signed December 16, 2022, cut them to 1 year and 18 months (Senate bill analysis). The full deadline walkthrough, with Isaias dates, is in my hurricane claim deadline post.

How fast the insurer has to move

SB 2-A also tightened the other side of the clock, effective March 1, 2023 (ch. 2022-271, s. 15). These are the current deadlines in s. 627.70131, next to what they were before the bill, as described in the Senate final bill analysis.

Source: s. 627.70131, Florida Statutes (2026); earlier periods from the SB 2-A final bill analysis (Florida Senate, December 2022).

A late payment bears interest from the date the insurer received notice. After a declared emergency, OIR can extend the 60 days, but only by order and by no more than 30 extra days (s. 627.70131(5)(a)). Within 14 days of your first contact about a claim, the insurer must also send you the Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights (s. 627.7142), which lists these deadlines in plain language.

What to do: write down the date and method of every report, and ask for every estimate in writing. If the 60 days pass with no decision and no explanation, that's a call to the DFS consumer helpline at 1-877-693-5236 (DFS).

Assignment of benefits: the Florida AOB law

An assignment of benefits, or AOB, is an agreement that transfers your rights under the claim to someone else, usually the contractor doing the repairs, so they can deal with your insurer, and sue it, in your place. Florida first regulated these agreements in 2019 and then banned them for new policies in SB 2-A (SB 2-A).

What the ban doesn't stop:

• You can still hire any licensed contractor you want and pay them from your claim money.
• The law carves out a sale of the damaged home (assignment to a later buyer with an insurable interest), a power of attorney letting a family member, guardian or management company act on your claim, and liability coverage under the policy (s. 627.7152(11)).

Policies issued from July 1, 2019 through December 31, 2022 still follow the older rules. An AOB under one of those has to be in writing, let you rescind it without penalty within 14 days of signing (or later in some cases), require the contractor to send the insurer a copy within 3 business days, and include an itemized per-unit cost estimate (s. 627.7152(2)(a)). If you're not sure which side of January 1, 2023 your policy falls on, ask the insurer before you sign anything.

Related: a contractor can't offer you a gift, cash, or a waiver of your deductible for a roof inspection or for filing a roof claim, and can't interpret your policy or adjust your claim unless licensed as a public adjuster (s. 489.147). If someone at your door offers to "take care of the insurance," say no and call your insurer yourself.

Attorney fees and bad faith: what changed in 2022 and 2023

Florida had a "one-way" attorney fee statute, s. 627.428: if you sued your insurer and won a judgment, the insurer paid your lawyer's fees. The Senate's bill analysis says some version of it had been Florida law since at least 1893 (SB 2-A analysis).

That ended in two steps. SB 2-A (December 16, 2022) amended both fee statutes, s. 627.428 and s. 626.9373 for surplus lines insurers, to say that in a suit under a residential or commercial property policy "there is no right to attorney fees under this section" (ch. 2022-271, ss. 6 and 13). HB 837 (March 24, 2023) then repealed both statutes outright (ch. 2023-15, ss. 10 and 11). The newer declaratory-judgment fee rule HB 837 created, s. 86.121, expressly does not apply to residential or commercial property policies (s. 86.121(2)).

What's left is a two-way tool: Florida's offer-of-judgment statute, s. 768.79, applies to any civil action involving an insurance contract (s. 624.1552). That can shift fees toward either side depending on settlement offers and the result, so a lawsuit carries risk for you too.

Bad faith changed as well. You can't bring a bad-faith action against a property insurer until a court has found that the insurer breached the contract and entered a final judgment. Accepting an offer of judgment or being paid an appraisal award doesn't count (s. 624.1551).

The Legislature hasn't reversed course. HB 1551 (2025) would have required courts to award attorney fees to prevailing parties in suits against insurers; it died in the House Judiciary Committee (HB 1551 (2025)). Which fee rule applies to an older policy or a suit already filed is a legal question for an attorney.

Disputes: mediation, appraisal, arbitration and presuit notice

Because lawsuits got more expensive, the cheaper steps matter more. In order of cost to you, they look like this.

DFS mediation (s. 627.7015). No cost to you in most cases: the insurer bears the cost, which DFS lists as $350, unless you fail to show up (DFS mediation). The dispute has to be $500 or more. A claim becomes eligible once the insurer has paid or denied it under s. 627.70131(7), or elected to reinspect. Mediation is nonbinding, and if you sign a settlement you have 3 business days to rescind it unless you've cashed the check. One catch: a loss that doesn't comply with the s. 627.70132 notice deadline isn't eligible, which is another reason to report on time.

Appraisal. The mediation statute itself notes that most homeowners policies obligate policyholders to go through "a potentially expensive and time-consuming adversarial appraisal process before litigation" (s. 627.7015(1)). SB 2-A gave OIR power to discipline an insurer that, as a general business practice and without just cause, forces policyholders into appraisal to get full payment (bill analysis). Under s. 627.7015(7), if the insurer never told you about mediation, or the insurer asked for mediation and either side rejected the result, you don't have to go through contractual appraisal before suing.

Binding arbitration. An insurer can only require it through a separate endorsement you sign, with a premium credit, after mediation, and only if it also offers you a policy without it (s. 627.70154). If you see an arbitration endorsement, you agreed to it. Know what you gave up, including a jury trial.

Presuit notice (s. 627.70152). Before suing, you (or your lawyer) must file a notice of intent with DFS at least 10 business days ahead, and not before the insurer has made a coverage decision. The insurer has 10 business days to respond: after a denial it can accept coverage, keep denying, or reinspect within 14 more business days; for other disputes it makes a settlement offer or requires appraisal or other dispute resolution. A suit filed without the notice gets dismissed.

Roof rules and deductibles

Three rules decide most roof questions:

• Roof age. An insurer can't refuse to issue or renew solely because a roof is under 15 years old. At 15 or older, it must let you get an inspection at your cost, and if the roof has 5 or more years of useful life left, it can't refuse on age alone (s. 627.7011(5)). Bills to rework that rule died in committee in March 2026 (SB 808).
• Optional roof deductible. Capped at the lesser of 2% of Coverage A or 50% of the roof replacement cost, you can reject it on an OIR-approved form, and it doesn't apply to roof damage from a hurricane (s. 627.701(10)).
• Hurricane deductible. Applies once per calendar year to all covered hurricane losses, and its dollar amount must appear on your declarations page (s. 627.701(4) and (5)).

Deeper reading: the Florida roof age law post (inspections, the 25% reroof rule, Citizens roof rules), the hurricane deductible post (the math), and the wind mitigation inspection post (the form that sets your windstorm discounts).

Cancellation and nonrenewal notice

On a homeowners policy, the insurer must give you written notice of nonrenewal, cancellation or termination at least 120 days before it takes effect, with the reason. Nonpayment is the exception: 10 days. You also get at least 45 days' notice of the renewal premium (s. 627.4133(2)(a)-(b)). Once a policy has been in force 60 days, the insurer can cancel mid-term only for a short list of reasons, such as a material misstatement, nonpayment, or a substantial change in the risk.

After a covered loss, there's more protection. If the damage came from a hurricane or wind loss covered by a Governor's emergency declaration and OIR has filed an order, the insurer can't cancel or nonrenew for 90 days after the home has been repaired (s. 627.4133(2)(e)1.a). Otherwise, if your home was damaged by any covered peril, the insurer generally can't cancel or nonrenew until the earlier of the repairs being finished or 1 year after the final claim payment. The exceptions include nonpayment, fraud or material misstatement, unreasonably delaying repairs, and policy limits being paid (s. 627.4133(2)(e)).

What to do: when a nonrenewal notice arrives, the 120 days are your shopping window. One exception: when Citizens nonrenews a policy that has been assumed by a private insurer offering replacement coverage (a takeout), Citizens only has to give 45 days' written notice (s. 627.4133(2)(b)5). Don't wait for the last month. The Florida home insurance page explains how I help Florida homeowners compare options when that letter shows up.

Citizens: eligibility and the flood requirement

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is the state-created insurer of last resort, and SB 2-A made it harder to stay there. You're not eligible if a private insurer offers comparable coverage at a premium not more than 20% above Citizens' premium, and homes with a dwelling replacement cost of $700,000 or more are generally not eligible, with a higher cap in counties OIR finds lack competition (s. 627.351(6)). New and renewal policies run through the Citizens clearinghouse, which checks for those private offers (Citizens clearinghouse).

The flood requirement is the one with a date coming up. Under s. 627.351(6)(aa), Citizens personal lines residential policyholders must carry flood insurance, phased in like this:

Source: s. 627.351(6)(aa), Florida Statutes (2026). Not required for policies that exclude wind or for condo unit owner policies.

If your Citizens policy renews in early 2027 and you don't have flood, start now. NFIP coverage generally takes effect 30 days after purchase (FloodSmart), and Citizens can deny coverage to a policyholder who refuses to carry flood. My Florida flood insurance post explains NFIP versus private flood, and the Florida flood insurance page covers how to get a quote. Takeout offers and the 20% rule are in the Citizens 2026 post.

Timeline: Florida homeowners insurance law changes, 2019 to 2026

Source: s. 627.7152, s. 627.70132, s. 627.70152, s. 627.7011, s. 624.1551, s. 627.351, s. 489.147 (texts and history notes, 2026); SB 76, SB 2-D, SB 2-A, HB 837, HB 1551 (2025), SB 808 (2026), SB 1028 (2026) bill pages, Florida Senate.

What applies to Hurricane Isaias claims

Isaias made landfall near Destin on October 9, 2026 (FDEM). As of October 15, OIR's data showed 46,509 claims across all lines, 35,014 of them homeowners claims, about 75% (OIR). Five Panhandle counties account for about 95% of all claims.

Santa Rosa22,894Escambia13,677Okaloosa4,334Walton1,727Bay1,703

Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Hurricane Isaias claims data (data as of October 15, 2026; insurer-reported).

Show the numbers

County	Claims
Santa Rosa	22,894
Escambia	13,677
Okaloosa	4,334
Walton	1,727
Bay	1,703

For Isaias homeowners claims, here's how the current rules line up:

1. Notice deadlines run from landfall: a new or reopened claim by about October 9, 2027, a supplemental claim by about April 9, 2028. A lawsuit for breach of the policy has 5 years, to about October 9, 2031.
2. The 60-day pay-or-deny clock runs from when you reported. As of October 18, I could not find an OIR emergency order for Isaias extending it on OIR's newsroom (OIR).
3. No AOB on a policy issued on or after January 1, 2023. A contractor can do the work; you keep the claim.
4. Hurricane deductible, not roof deductible, for roof damage from the storm.
5. Storm surge is flood. Water coming in from the ground up is a flood policy claim, not a homeowners claim (FloodSmart).

Five things to do with all this

1. Report damage within days, not months. The 1-year bar is the outside limit, and a late claim also loses DFS mediation.
2. Keep a claim log: the date you reported, who you spoke with, every estimate, every letter. The 7-day and 60-day deadlines all key off dates.
3. Don't sign anything that hands over your claim. On newer policies it's void anyway; on older ones you have a 14-day rescission right.
4. Use mediation before a lawyer. It costs you nothing in most cases and the settlement can be rescinded within 3 business days.
5. Read the declarations page at renewal: the hurricane deductible in dollars, any roof deductible, any arbitration endorsement, and, on Citizens, whether you have the flood coverage the law now requires.

FAQ

How long do you have to file a homeowners insurance claim in Florida?

Under s. 627.70132, notice of a new or reopened claim must be given within 1 year after the date of loss, and notice of a supplemental claim within 18 months. For hurricanes, the date of loss is the landfall date.

Is assignment of benefits still allowed in Florida?

Not for residential property policies issued on or after January 1, 2023. Under s. 627.7152(13), an attempt to assign post-loss benefits under those policies is void, with narrow exceptions such as a later buyer of the home or a power of attorney.

Does a Florida insurer have to pay my attorney fees if I win?

Not under the old one-way fee statute. SB 2-A removed one-way fees for property insurance suits in December 2022, and HB 837 repealed s. 627.428 in March 2023. Ask an attorney how fees could apply to your case.

How long does a Florida insurer have to pay a claim?

Under s. 627.70131(7)(a), the insurer must pay or deny an initial, reopened or supplemental claim, in whole or in part, within 60 days after it receives notice, unless factors beyond its control prevent it.

Do Citizens policyholders need flood insurance?

Yes, on a phased schedule under s. 627.351(6)(aa). By January 1, 2027 it applies to all Citizens personal lines residential policies, except policies that exclude wind and condo unit owner policies.

Your own policy wording and Florida law control how any of these rules apply to your home. Confirm your situation with a licensed agent, the Florida Department of Financial Services or Office of Insurance Regulation, or, for legal questions such as attorney fees or lawsuits, an attorney.

Sources

1. Florida Statutes s. 627.70132, notice of property insurance claim (2026)
2. Florida Statutes s. 627.70131, insurer's duty to acknowledge and act on communications (2026)
3. Florida Statutes s. 627.7152, assignment agreements (2026)
4. Florida Statutes s. 627.70152, suits arising under a property insurance policy (2026)
5. Florida Statutes s. 627.7015, alternative procedure for resolution of disputed claims (2026)
6. Florida Statutes s. 627.70154, mandatory binding arbitration (2026)
7. Florida Statutes s. 627.7011, homeowners' policies; roof age (2026)
8. Florida Statutes s. 627.701, deductibles (2026)
9. Florida Statutes s. 627.4133, notice of cancellation and nonrenewal (2026)
10. Florida Statutes s. 627.7142, Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights (2026)
11. Florida Statutes s. 627.351, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (2026)
12. Florida Statutes s. 624.1551, civil remedy actions against property insurers (2026)
13. Florida Statutes s. 624.1552, offer of judgment in insurance actions
14. Florida Statutes s. 86.121, attorney fees in declaratory actions (2026)
15. Florida Statutes s. 489.147, prohibited property insurance practices by contractors (2026)
16. Florida Statutes s. 95.11, limitations other than real property actions (2026)
17. Laws of Florida ch. 2022-271 (SB 2-A)
18. Florida Senate: SB 2-A (2022A) bill page
19. Florida Senate: SB 2-A final bill analysis (December 2022)
20. Laws of Florida ch. 2023-15 (HB 837)
21. Florida Senate: HB 837 (2023) bill page
22. Laws of Florida ch. 2021-77 (SB 76)
23. Florida Senate: SB 76 (2021) bill page
24. Florida Senate: SB 2-D (2022D) bill page
25. Florida Senate: HB 1551 (2025), Attorney Fee Awards in Insurance Actions
26. Florida Senate: SB 808 (2026), Roofing Requirements for Property Insurance
27. Florida Senate: SB 1028 (2026), ch. 2026-150
28. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation: Clearinghouse
29. Florida OIR: Hurricane Isaias claims data
30. Florida OIR: Newsroom
31. Florida DFS: residential property mediation
32. FloodSmart (FEMA/NFIP): buy a policy, waiting period
33. FloodSmart (FEMA/NFIP): start a flood claim
34. Florida DFS: storm resources and consumer helpline
35. Florida Division of Emergency Management: Hurricane Isaias update, Oct 11, 2026