HOW A CLAIM ACTUALLY WORKS
- • A claim is a file you build, not a form you submit. The household with the better record gets the bigger check.
- • The two highest-leverage moments are the 30 minutes before the storm and the first 72 hours after it.
- • Florida gives you 1 year to notice a claim and 18 months for a supplemental claim (Fla. Stat. § 627.70132); the carrier then owes a decision in 60 days (§ 627.70131).
- • Mitigation isn't optional. The policy makes you tarp and dry out, and it pays you back when you keep the receipts.
- • Every stage below has its own guide. Start where your storm is.
Where the money leaks, and which guide plugs it
Every stage has its own leverage and its own leak. Two carry an amber flag: the first 72 hours, when a missed tarp can void the interior loss, and the fight, where a deadline can end a valid claim. Tap any stage for its guide.
Stage sequence modeled on the recovery-phase framework and re-cut for the claim fight. Deadlines per Fla. Stat. § 627.70132 / § 627.70131. Confirm current statute text.
Start where your storm is
Recovery is a journey. The claim is a fight.
Policyholder-advocacy groups describe recovery in phases. The same phases map onto the claim, but each one is a place the carrier can pay less than it owes.
The emergency phase
Safety, shelter, and stopping the damage from spreading. Your only claim jobs here are to mitigate and to start the record: every tarp, every receipt, every photo before you clean up.
The first 72 hours → 02The documentation phase
Turning a damaged house into a provable loss: a room-by-room inventory, the photo protocol, and the paper that establishes pre-storm condition. The carrier adjusts what you can prove, not what you lost.
The photo protocol → 03The negotiation phase
Notice, proof of loss, the adjuster visit, the estimate, and the gap between their number and yours. Most claims are won or lost on scope and depreciation, quietly, without a denial letter ever arriving.
The holdback, explained → 04The dispute phase
When the number is wrong or the answer is no: internal appeal, DOI complaint, appraisal, and finally suit. Each step is cheaper and faster than the one after it, and each has a deadline.
The denials library →Prefer the coverage question first? Start with the coverage library, what your policy pays for, peril by peril. Already denied? The denials library takes each argument apart.
The claim is won on the record, not the wreckage.
A hurricane claim isn't decided by how badly your house was hit, but by how well the loss is documented and how precisely the deadlines are met. Photograph everything before you touch it, keep every receipt, put every notice in writing, and read your policy before the adjuster does. The carrier pays for what the file proves.
The deadlines are the trap: Florida gives you a year to notice a claim and 18 months for a supplemental, then 60 days for the carrier's decision; South Carolina runs on prompt notice. Miss the window and the best evidence won't save the claim; meet it, and a denial or lowball becomes an argument you can win. This needs a record, not a lawyer, to start. The free review below is for when the carrier's number doesn't match what you documented.
Somewhere on the roadmap and stuck?
Tell us which stage you're on: before the storm, mid-claim, or staring at a denial. You'll get a straight read on the next move and the deadline that governs it.
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Coverage summaries, policy-language quotations, dollar figures, deadlines, and chart examples throughout this site are general information based on typical or standard policy forms and are illustrative only: they are not a quote, a guarantee of coverage, or a promise of any outcome. Every insurance policy is different: your own policy, endorsements, and state law control, so read your policy and confirm current statutes. Weather imagery courtesy of NOAA, the National Hurricane Center, and the National Weather Service. Nothing on this site is legal advice; consult an attorney about your specific claim.
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