Do this first
What to do right now
- Stay out of any room with a sagging, stained or bulging ceiling, and shut off power to that area at the breaker if water is anywhere near lights or outlets.
- Photograph and video everything BEFORE anyone tarps or cleans up, wide shots of the house, close-ups of missing shingles, interior stains, and the damaged contents. This is the evidence your claim rests on.
- Do not go on the roof yourself. Wet, storm-loosened decking in Navarre is exactly how post-hurricane falls happen. Shoot from the ground, a window or a drone.
- Get the roof dried in, tarping or temporary patching, as soon as it is safe. Most Florida policies require you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage.
- Keep the torn shingles, ripped underlayment and damaged materials in a pile on the property until the adjuster has seen them. Do not haul debris to the curb first.
- Save every receipt: tarps, plywood, a generator, a hotel room, a dehumidifier. Emergency mitigation costs are frequently reimbursable.
What hurricane damage actually looks like in Navarre
The dramatic failures, a roof peeled back to the decking, a gable end opened up, are obvious. The expensive ones are not. After a Florida hurricane the most common findings on an intact-looking roof are lifted or creased shingle tabs where the seal strip broke, displaced ridge and hip caps, dislodged or spun turbine vents, popped fasteners on metal panels, and torn or wrinkled underlayment that no longer sheds water. None of that leaks on a still day. All of it leaks in the next afternoon thunderstorm, and Florida gets a lot of those.
Your hurricane deductible is not your normal deductible
This surprises Navarre homeowners every season. Florida residential policies carry a separate hurricane deductible that is typically expressed as a percentage of the insured value of the dwelling rather than a flat dollar figure, and it applies when the damage is caused by a hurricane as defined in your policy. It can be a great deal larger than the all-other-perils deductible you are used to. Pull out your declarations page and read the hurricane deductible line before you decide whether to file, the answer changes the math completely on a partial roof repair.
Deadlines: check the number with your carrier
Florida law sets deadlines for reporting a property insurance claim, and those deadlines have been changed by the legislature more than once in recent years. Do not rely on a figure you read on a forum or hear from a door-knocker. Call your carrier or read your policy and confirm the current notice deadline that applies to you, then report the claim well inside it. Late notice is one of the easiest ways to lose an otherwise valid hurricane claim.
Vet the contractor before you sign anything
Storm chasers arrive in Navarre within days of landfall. Before you sign, look the company up in the state licensee search at myfloridalicense.com, ask for their Florida certified or registered roofing licence number, and confirm they carry general liability and workers compensation. Be wary of anyone who wants a large cash deposit, who offers to "cover your deductible": that is not legal in Florida, or who asks you to sign a document that assigns your insurance benefits to them before you have read it carefully. If you are strengthening the home rather than repairing it, look into the state-run My Safe Florida Home programme, which has offered free wind mitigation inspections and matching grants for qualifying homeowners; availability and funding vary by year, so check the current status directly with the programme.
