Effective July 1, 2021, the Florida Legislature revised Fla. Stat. §. 627.70132 as it pertains to the notice a homeowner is required to give his/her insurance company for property damage claims.  Under the revised statute, a policyholder must give notice of a home damage claim within two years from the date of the loss.  That means September 16, 2022 for Hurricane Sally claims. 

Initial Claims for Hurricane Sally Damage

As insurance attorneys who have handled hurricane damage claims for decades, we often see homeowners who do not uncover the full extent of the damage caused by a hurricane until months or years after the storm.  If you believe your home suffered more damage from Hurricane Sally than you initially uncovered and you have not yet filed a claim with your insurance company for Hurricane Sally damage, know that your deadline to file such a claim, September 16, 2022, is fast approaching. 

Reopened Claims for Hurricane Sally Damage

This new two-year deadline also includes “reopened” claims for Hurricane Sally damage.  The legislature defines a reopened claim as a claim that was previously closed but has been reopened upon a policyholder's request for additional costs for loss or damage previously disclosed to the insurer.  Meaning, if you initially filed a Sally claim but you believe the amount paid by the insurance company on the claim was not enough to allow for full repair of your covered damage, your deadline to provide additional evidence and ask your insurance company to reopen the claim is also September 16, 2022.  It can take some time to obtain accurate quotes and estimates for damages.  If you feel you need to recover more from your insurance company than you did before your Hurricane Sally claim was closed, you should act quickly to meet this deadline to ask your insurance company to reopen your Hurricane Sally claim and re-assess the damages your property suffered and the previous amount(s) they paid.

Pursuing the Full Amount You Are Owed on Your Hurricane Sally Claim

If you feel your insurance company has not paid you the full amount you are owed for damage your property suffered as a result of wind during Hurricane Sally, you should act quickly to gather the documents and evidence necessary to give notice and timely inform your insurance company of an initial claim or request your closed Sally claim be reopened.  At TWWH, we have handled hundreds of property damage insurance claims and helped many homeowners recover more than the initial amount(s) their insurance company paid.  If you have questions about the damage your property suffered during Hurricane Sally or the ins and outs of filing an initial or reopened insurance claim, contact us for a free, no-cost, no-obligation consultation.  We are here to help and always happy to answer your questions about insurance and property damage claims.