LAST CALL: Hurricane Irma Claims
The deadline to file new and supplemental hurricane Irma claims is the three years from the date of the storm
Hurricane Irma made landfall in Cudjoe Key, Florida and then proceeded to run south to north while its huge wind field was causing damage across the entire state. Hurricane force winds were nearly the width of the entire state while tropical storm force winds extended hundreds of miles further.
The deadline for filing a new or supplemental claim for that damage is three years from the date of the storm, and at this point you’d almost certainly need the help of an experienced public adjuster. Here’s what you need to know:
Florida Law provides a three year period to report hurricane claims, but this is not the “statute of limitations”
Fla. Stat. 627.70132 says that insureds have three years after the storm first made landfall to make new, supplemental, or reopened claims for property damage. This means that if you have damage, you need to let the insurance company know by September 9th, 2020, or else you’ll be forever barred from making that claim.
This statute, though, is not the statute of limitations for storm claims. If your claim has been reported prior to September 9th, 2020, Fla. Stat. 95.11 provides you five years from the date of loss to file a lawsuit for breach of the insurance contract. Because of the first statute, though, it’s basically a two-step process, where the insurance company needs to be first notified, and that deadline is fast approaching.
What is “Late Notice”
Your insurance policy requires you to provide the insurance company with “prompt notice” following discovery of damage. If your insurance company can’t figure out what happened that caused the damage because you were slow to act, it can jeopardize coverage for your claim entirely.
Many insurance companies will say “Late Notice” while pointing a finger at you, simply referring to the time that has passed in order to set up a potential defense, even though that’s only half the story.
Often times, damage caused by a hurricane can be latent, or hidden from view, justifying the delays in reporting. After all, you can’t report damages you didn’t see and didn’t know existed. If the damages are consistent with wind damage and there have been no other storms, a forensic engineer can evaluate whether or not the damages you’ve discovered are likely to have been caused by hurricane Irma with a degree of certainty.
Check your roofs now (or have a professional check for you)
With the deadline to report claims approaching, if you don’t believe you had damage from the storm, and your roof hasn’t recently sprung a leak, it can still be to your advantage to put eyes on the roofs surface. If you' haven’t been on the roof in years, it might be time to take a look, or if that’s not in your wheelhouse, have a professional take a look for you. You can have a roofer or handyman, or you can call the public adjusters at VIP Adjusting to check it for you.
Any roof that isn’t brand new could have some wear or broken tiles from being exposed to the elements (and Florida sun) for years. A couple of chipped tiles or broken corners isn’t usually indicative of windstorm damage. Many broken tiles or tiles that are loose can be a sign that your roof suffered damage from our last hurricane.
Ridge caps may be loose, or a uplift test can tell is tiles are no longer properly attached to roofs, or significant signs of cracking and breaks could indicate damage from hurricane Irma. If you have a shingle roof, significant granule loss could have resulted from the storm, and in the time since, the asphalt shingles will have baked in the sun and become incredibly brittle.
In any event, time is running out. If you think your roof has been compromised, VIP Adjusting’s public adjusters would be happy to schedule a free inspection anywhere from the Treasure Coast to the Space Coast.
If your roof leaks two weeks from now and you discover storm damages, it may already be too late!
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