Home & Money / Insurance claims
A delay, denial, low estimate, flood split, repair dispute, and failed insurer do not use the same next step.
Keep the claim alive in writing. Ask for the carrier's current position, match the problem to the right record, then choose the smallest next door that can actually address it.
What this page covers
This guide is for a policyholder's own Florida home or residential property claim, including a house, condo unit, dwelling, mobile home, a renter's belongings, or a similar first-party property loss. Auto, health, life, workers' compensation, and another person's liability claim use different rules and programs.
Begin here
The next office needs to see what the carrier decided, what proof it had, and what remains different. Four short sections are enough to start.
1.The policy that covered the date of loss.
Save the declarations page, policy, endorsements, deductibles, and every later coverage notice. The renewal in today's inbox may not be the policy that controlled the damage.
2.The carrier's current written position.
Keep the claim number, acknowledgment, payment or denial letter, and estimate. Add any adjuster report you received, request for information, and proof-of-loss paper. Ask which issue is still open.
3.Your proof, in date order.
Use before-and-after photos and a room or item list. Add weather or incident records, inspection reports, repair estimates, invoices, permits, receipts, and a short contact log. Keep damaged property when feasible.
4.The exact money or decision in dispute.
Separate the deductible, depreciation, prior payment, mortgage holdback, excluded work, and disputed line items. A specific difference is easier to route than a general statement that the payment feels low.
Name the problem
More than one row may apply after a storm. Keep each issue separate enough that the carrier or next office can answer it.
Ask the carrier what it received and what is missing. Ask who owns the next step. Get the claim status in writing: accepted, partly accepted, denied, or still under review.
Likely next door: Use the carrier's claim contact first. If the answer stays unclear, DFS Consumer Services can request an explanation and review whether the company followed Florida insurance rules.
Put the written denial beside the policy language and facts the carrier used. Ask what led to the decision: the damage, cause, exclusion, policy condition, or missing proof.
Likely next door: A DFS concern can address claim handling. Home-claim mediation may fit an eligible dispute about what caused covered damage. The carrier must make a claim determination first.
Compare the two estimates line by line. Mark quantities, labor, materials, code work, tax, and overhead. Then mark the deductible, depreciation, and payments already issued.
Likely next door: Ask the carrier to explain each difference in writing. Some amount or scope disputes fit DFS mediation. Appraisal may be another route only if the effective policy provides it. Its terms must also fit the dispute.
Keep the home or wind claim and the flood claim as separate files. Record the carrier and claim number for each one. Note the water source or opening addressed by each decision.
Likely next door: An NFIP dispute follows the federal FloodSmart and FEMA path, not Florida residential property mediation. A private flood policy may use different terms. Identify the issuer before choosing a route.
Separate what the insurer owes under the policy from what the repair papers require. Those papers include the contract, permit, payment plan, warranty, and contractor license. Keep change orders and claim messages apart.
Likely next door: Ask the insurer about managed-repair or preferred-vendor terms before permanent work. Check the contractor and local permit path before signing or paying.
Treat Citizens as the insurance carrier. Keep its policy, claim number, adjuster contact, estimates, and decisions together. Add any dispute notice required by that policy.
Likely next door: Start with Citizens for reporting and status. Then read the exact policy and current claim notice. Mediation, appraisal, and other processes are not interchangeable.
Confirm the company's legal status on the Florida DFS Receiver page. Save the order or notice, policy, claim file, and receiver instructions. Write down every filing deadline.
Likely next door: FIGA is not a substitute for an ordinary slow claim. It handles some covered property and casualty claims after a member insurer becomes insolvent and is ordered liquidated. Other claims may stay with the Receiver.
Choose one useful door
Door 1
Send a short written request tied to the claim number. State the carrier's position, the record you think it missed, the exact answer or amount you want reviewed, and the date you need a response. Keep the upload or delivery receipt.
Keep the boundary: A new estimate is most useful when it answers the same scope and line items. A thick attachment without a clear request can make the disagreement harder to see.
Door 2
Florida DFS can contact a Florida-regulated insurer or agency and require an explanation. It can review the response against Florida insurance law and rules. It can also help explain the policy and point to another resource.
Keep the boundary: DFS does not give legal advice or decide disputed facts. It does not set the claim value or act as your adjuster. It cannot simply order payment when no law, rule, or policy term was violated.
Door 3
This is a non-binding meeting held before appraisal or a lawsuit. A neutral mediator helps the two sides talk. The program can fit some disputes over the cause of damage or the amount or scope offered for a house, dwelling, mobile home, or condo claim.
Keep the boundary: A claim determination, including an offer, must exist first. DFS lists several exclusions. They include NFIP, liability, commercial-lines, suspected-fraud, uncovered-cause, and claims already in a lawsuit or appraisal. Check current eligibility before applying.
Door 4
The effective policy may offer appraisal, arbitration, or another dispute process. Read what the clause decides and how it starts. Check who pays and which deadlines keep running. Appraisal often focuses on amount, but the policy and disputed issue control.
Keep the boundary: A company or independent adjuster works for the carrier. A licensed public adjuster represents the insured for a fee. A contractor repairs, an engineer gives a technical opinion, and a lawyer gives legal advice. Those roles are not substitutes for one another.
Clock check
These are routing markers, not a substitute for the effective policy, a current agency order, or case-specific advice. Save the notice date and every extension or tolling record.
Florida's current property-claim notice statute generally bars an initial or reopened claim unless notice is given under the policy within 1 year after the date of loss. A supplemental claim generally has an 18-month notice limit. Report promptly; do not use those outside limits as a waiting plan.
For covered residential property insurers, current section 627.70131 uses several general markers. It gives 7 calendar days for claim-communication acknowledgment. It gives 7 days to begin a needed investigation after proof-of-loss statements and 30 days for a physical inspection when one is part of that work. It also gives 7 days to send an insurer-adjuster estimate after it is generated. Statutory exceptions can apply.
The same statute generally requires payment or denial within 60 days after notice. This applies to an initial, reopened, or supplemental claim, or part of one. The carrier must give a written reason. Factors beyond its control and statutory tolling can change the count.
A personal-lines residential insurer must provide Florida's Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights within 14 days after the first claim message. Other dates can run at the same time. Check the policy, repair contracts, mediation, appraisal, NFIP appeals, receiver filings, and civil actions. Do not assume a complaint or negotiation pauses another deadline.
One clean disagreement
A useful cover note can be short: "The carrier says ___ because ___. I disagree because ___. The amount or decision I am asking it to review is ___. The attached records are ___."
Use a line-item comparison with the carrier amount, your amount, the difference, and the photo, estimate, invoice, or policy term behind it.
Name the exact damage and cause, the carrier's cited exclusion or condition, and the report, photo, timeline, or policy language you want reconsidered.
Files that branch away
FloodSmart says an NFIP appeal to FEMA must generally be submitted within 60 calendar days of the denial letter. A lawsuit generally must be filed within 1 year of the first denial. An appeal does not extend that period. Appraisal and appeal choices can affect one another. Use the current federal instructions for the exact claim.
A claim payment may name the lender because the policy has more than one financial interest. Ask the servicer for its endorsement, inspection, draw, and repair-release steps. A lender holdback is not the same dispute as the insurer's coverage or amount decision.
Put the unit policy and association master policy side by side. Add the declaration, maintenance duties, association claim, and damage location. The association, unit owner, and two carriers may be answering different parts of the loss.
Read the fees and cancellation terms before signing. Check who may speak or act for you. An assignment of benefits, public-adjuster contract, repair authorization, direction to pay, and power of attorney do different jobs.
The insurance claim and county property-tax refund are separate files. A Florida catastrophic-event tax refund may be available when residential property was uninhabitable for at least 30 days, with its own county application and deadline.
FAQ
Not by itself. DFS can require an explanation, review the response against Florida insurance law and rules, help explain the policy, and route the concern. It does not decide disputed facts, set the value, act as your adjuster, give legal advice, or simply order payment when no law, rule, or policy term was violated.
No. The mediation itself is non-binding, so no party must accept an outcome. If the parties do settle, DFS says the policyholder has three business days to rescind as long as the check has not been cashed and the company is informed.
No. DFS says a claim determination, including an offer to pay, is required first. Ask the carrier for its current written position before applying.
No. DFS lists claims arising from National Flood Insurance Program policies as ineligible. Use the NFIP insurer, FloodSmart, and FEMA appeal or other federal claim paths. Check a private flood policy separately because its process may differ.
No. Florida residential mediation is a non-binding state-administered conference. Appraisal is a policy process whose scope, participants, costs, and effect come from the effective policy and law. DFS lists a claim already in appraisal as ineligible for residential mediation.
Protect people and take reasonable steps required by the policy to prevent further damage. Photograph before and after, keep damaged property when feasible, save receipts, and ask the carrier about inspection, emergency work, managed repair, and permanent-repair requirements. Do not let avoidable damage grow while assuming every repair can begin without notice.
It means the carrier has stated a position. Read the written reason, policy language, facts, reports, and deadlines. A carrier review, DFS concern, eligible mediation, policy process, or legal review may still fit, but none is automatic and each can carry a different clock.
No. A licensed public adjuster represents the insured in adjusting the claim for a fee. A contractor performs repair work. A lawyer gives legal advice and may handle a legal dispute. Verify the license and contract for the role you are hiring.
Next steps
Use the page that matches the file you need to build or the separate issue now in front of you.
Evidence
Organize photos, contacts, estimates, flood and wind files, contractors, permits, receipts, and mortgage steps.
Build the claim log ->Water
Separate FEMA maps, private or NFIP flood coverage, evacuation planning, and the flood-policy file.
Open the flood guide ->Repairs
Carry the contractor, permit, notice, inspection, payment, and project-closeout records beside the claim.
Open the repair guide ->Policy
Review the policy, wind form, hurricane deductible, Citizens path, and separate flood coverage before renewal.
Open the policy guide ->Official checks
Florida statutes set residential property-claim handling and notice rules. DFS runs consumer assistance and mediation. Citizens, FEMA, the policy, the insurer, and the DFS Receiver each control their own parts of a claim.
Last reviewed: July 14, 2026
Use this carefully: This page routes a first-party residential property claim; it does not decide coverage, causation, value, professional negligence, contract rights, or a filing deadline for a particular loss. Use the effective policy, complete claim record, current official instructions, and qualified Florida insurance or legal help when the answer depends on disputed facts or a binding deadline.
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