Filing Insurance Claims Following Hurricane Michael

Through the course of representing policyholders in first-party property insurance claim disputes, they often ask about the insurance carriers’ claims handling time limits. Here is a general overview of some important deadlines insurance carriers must follow in Florida:

Acknowledgment of Communication within 14 Days

In Florida, an insurance carrier must acknowledge receipt of your insurance claim within 14 days. During this time, it is important to focus on preserving the evidence of the damage and gathering documentation regarding the claims, including: before and after photographs of the damaged property, receipts, proposals for repairs, and estimates. An insurance carrier is required to begin investigating your claim within 10 days of receiving notification of the loss.

Claim Decision

In Florida, an insurance carrier must pay or deny a claim or portion of a claim within 90 days after the insurance carriers receives notice of an initial, reopened, or supplemental property insurance claim from a policyholder.

Payment of Settlement

Once both sides come to an agreement regarding settlement of the claim, the insurer is required to tender payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement no later than 20 days after the settlement is reached. If the payment is not tendered within 20 days or such other date as the agreement may provide, it shall bear interest at a rate of 12 percent per year from the date of the agreement. It is important to note, however, that payment is almost always conditioned upon the execution of a release. This means that the interest will not begin to accrue until the executed release is tendered to the insurance carrier.

We are here to help! If your home was damaged in any way due to Hurricane Michael, call us and we will help you!