Do this first
What to do right now
- Find your policy and read the declarations page. Locate the hurricane deductible line specifically: it is separate from your all-other-perils deductible and it is usually a percentage of the dwelling coverage.
- Report the loss to your carrier and write down the claim number, the date and time, and the name of the person you spoke to. Confirm the notice deadline with them on that same call.
- Document before you mitigate: wide and close photos of every slope, interior damage, damaged contents, and the debris where it landed.
- Mitigate anyway, tarp, dry in, dry out. Most Florida policies impose a duty on you to prevent further damage, and failing to act can reduce what you recover.
- Keep every receipt and every piece of removed material until the adjuster has inspected. Do not send the torn shingles to the curb on bin day.
- Get an independent written inspection report from a licensed roofer, with photographs by slope, before or alongside the adjuster visit, not instead of it.
The hurricane deductible is the number that matters
Florida residential policies carry a hurricane deductible that is separate from and normally much larger than the deductible you pay for other perils. It is commonly expressed as a percentage of the insured value of the dwelling rather than a flat sum, and it is triggered when the loss is caused by a hurricane as your policy defines it. For a Niceville homeowner this single line frequently decides whether a partial roof repair is worth claiming at all. Read the declarations page. If the wording is unclear, ask your agent to state the dollar figure that would apply to your home.
Deadlines exist, get the current one from your carrier
Florida law sets deadlines for giving notice of a property insurance claim and for supplemental claims. Those deadlines have been shortened and revised by the legislature in recent years, so any specific number you find online may already be out of date. Do not rely on it and do not rely on what a contractor tells you on your driveway. Call your insurer or your agent, ask what the current notice deadline is for your policy, and report well inside it. Missing the deadline is one of the few ways to lose a claim that was otherwise perfectly valid.
Assignment of benefits, deductible offers and door-knockers
After a landfall, Niceville neighbourhoods fill with people offering to handle everything. Some are excellent local companies. Some are not. Three rules cover most of the risk. First, read anything that assigns your insurance benefits to a third party before signing; Florida has changed the law around assignment of benefits significantly and you should understand exactly what you are giving up. Second, a contractor who offers to cover, waive or rebate your deductible is not operating legally in Florida: that is an immediate walk-away. Third, verify the licence yourself in the state search at myfloridalicense.com rather than accepting a card, and confirm liability and workers compensation coverage.
Who does what
A roofing contractor documents and repairs the roof. An insurance adjuster works for your carrier. A public adjuster is a separately licensed professional who represents you in the claim, for a fee, and if you want one, you should engage a licensed public adjuster directly. We are none of these. This site is an independent directory and referral service: we connect you with licensed local roofers and we do not give insurance advice, negotiate claims, or act as a public adjuster. Separately, if the outcome of all this is that you want to strengthen the house rather than simply restore it, the state My Safe Florida Home programme has at times offered free wind mitigation inspections and matching grants to qualifying homeowners; funding varies by legislative session, so check the programme directly for current availability.
