Filing your hurricane claim: proof of loss, the adjuster, and the traps

Give notice and start the clock in your favor

Filing starts with notice: telling the carrier, in writing, that you have a loss. Do it early. In Florida, notice of an initial or reopened hurricane claim must be given within 1 year of the date of loss, and a supplemental claim within 18 months (Fla. Stat. § 627.70132, as amended by SB-2A in 2022). South Carolina policies require "prompt" notice and run on a 3-year suit clock. But the deadline is the floor, not the goal: the day you give notice is the day the carrier’s own clock starts, and every duty it owes you (acknowledgment, inspection, payment) is measured from that date.

Give notice through a channel that creates a record: the carrier’s claim portal, email, or a phone call you log by date, time, and claim number. Write down the claim number, the adjuster’s name, and every promise made. From the first call, keep a claim diary: one running document of who said what, when. It is the cheapest evidence you will ever create and the first thing that matters if the claim turns into a dispute.

Before the adjuster arrives, build the file. Photograph and video every elevation of the house and every damaged interior room (wide, medium, then close-up) before you tarp, dry out, or throw anything away. Keep receipts for emergency repairs; mitigating further damage is your duty under the policy, and those costs are recoverable. Save the last roofing invoice and any prior inspection reports. Our deadline reference lays out every date that now applies.

The sworn proof of loss

The proof of loss is the formal, sworn heart of the claim: a signed and notarized statement of what was damaged, when, by what cause, and what you claim it is worth. Most policies list it as a duty after loss and let the carrier demand it, commonly within 60 days of the request. The National Flood Insurance Program is stricter: a fully completed, signed, and sworn proof of loss is due within 60 days of the date of loss on a standard flood policy, and a late one is grounds to deny the flood claim outright.

Treat it as testimony, because it is. The numbers on the proof of loss fix your position, and a materially false or inflated one can void the entire claim under the policy’s concealment-or-fraud condition. Base every figure on your documentation (the inventory, the photos, the contractor and engineer estimates), not on a guess. When the full extent of the loss is still developing (hidden decking damage, mold, code-upgrade costs), say so on the form and reserve the right to supplement, rather than lowballing your own number to be safe.

DUTIES AFTER LOSS · TYPICAL HO-3 CONDITION (POLICY WORDING VARIES)

"In case of a loss to covered property, we have no duty to provide coverage under this policy if the failure to comply with the following duties is prejudicial to us… give us prompt notice… protect the property from further damage… prepare an inventory of damaged personal property… and, within 60 days after our request, submit to us a signed, sworn proof of loss."

If the carrier requests a proof of loss and you cannot meet the deadline, ask for an extension in writing before it expires. Do not let it lapse. A missed proof-of-loss deadline is one of the cleaner grounds a carrier has to deny, and one of the most avoidable.

The claim-handling clock Florida puts on the carrier

Florida does not leave the pace of a claim to the carrier’s discretion. Fla. Stat. § 627.70131, rewritten by SB-2A and effective March 1, 2023, sets hard deadlines measured from the day you give notice. Miss them and the carrier owes interest; a pattern of missing them is evidence for a market-conduct complaint. Know these dates, and watch the calendar against them.

South Carolina has no matching prompt-pay statute. Its backstop is conduct-based: S.C. Code § 38-59-20 defines improper claim practices, and § 38-59-40 lets a court award the policyholder attorney fees (up to one-third of the judgment) when an insurer refuses to pay within 90 days of demand and the refusal was without reasonable cause or in bad faith. The lever there is the demand and the 90-day silence, not a fixed inspection date.

The carrier’s adjuster: with them, and against them

After a hurricane, most carriers send an independent adjuster (a contractor hired by the insurer to inspect and write an estimate) and route the file to a desk (or "inside") adjuster who approves payment. Both are retained and paid by the carrier. That is not an accusation; it is the structure. The scope of loss the adjuster writes is the carrier’s opening position, built from what one person saw in one visit, and it is the number your recovery starts from unless you move it.

You have rights at the inspection. Be there. Walk the adjuster through every damage point, hand over your photos and inventory, and get them into the attic and onto the roof. Note what they measure and what they skip: decking under the shingles, felt and underlayment, flashing, code-required upgrades, matching of undamaged sections, interior ceilings and insulation. After the visit, ask for the written estimate and read it line by line against your own.

When you disagree, do it in writing. A short, factual letter identifying what the estimate omitted, with photos and your contractor’s numbers attached, is worth more than a phone argument, because it becomes part of the file. Our sample-letter library covers the reconsideration demand and the request for a complete copy of the adjuster’s report and estimate.

Your own estimate and the public adjuster

The most reliable way to move a low scope is to put a competing, credible estimate in the file. That can come from your own licensed contractor or roofer, a forensic engineer for causation and structural questions, or a public adjuster. The point is a documented, professional measurement of the full loss, including the parts the carrier’s one-visit scope tends to miss.

A public adjuster is a state-licensed professional who represents the policyholder, not the carrier, and negotiates the claim for a fee set by contract. Florida caps that fee by statute (Fla. Stat. § 626.854): generally no more than 10% of the additional payment on a claim tied to a declared state of emergency during the year after the declaration of emergency, and up to 20% otherwise. A good public adjuster builds the estimate, prepares the proof of loss, and handles the back-and-forth. The tradeoff is real: the fee comes out of your recovery, so it weighs most in favor on large or disputed claims. South Carolina also licenses public adjusters; confirm the fee and the license number before signing.

A public adjuster is not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice, file suit, or handle a bad-faith claim. When the dispute is about coverage rather than price (a denial, a reservation of rights, a wind-versus-water fight), that is a legal question. And note the Florida change: for policies issued on or after January 1, 2023, SB-2A prohibits assigning your policy benefits to a contractor (an "AOB"), so the estimate and the claim stay in your hands.

The recorded statement and the examination under oath

Two carrier tools deserve extra care. A recorded statement is an interview the adjuster records and transcribes early in the claim. An examination under oath (EUO) is a formal proceeding, under oath, usually with the carrier’s attorney, that most policies expressly reserve as a duty after loss. Cooperation is a condition of coverage, and an outright refusal to sit for an EUO can forfeit the claim, so the answer is rarely "no." It is "prepared."

Both are evidence, and the questions are designed to pin down answers a carrier can later use to narrow or deny. Go in ready: re-read your own notice, photos, inventory, and proof of loss first so your account is consistent. Answer only the question asked; do not volunteer, speculate, or guess at numbers, dates, or causes. "I don’t recall" or "I would need to check my records" is a truthful answer. If you misspeak, correct it on the record. For a large claim, after a reservation-of-rights letter, or once an EUO is demanded, having counsel present is normal and sensible.

Supplemental and reopened claims

Hurricane damage reveals itself over time. Water that looked like a stain becomes rotted decking; a "repairable" roof turns out to need full replacement once a contractor opens it; mold surfaces weeks later. That is what supplemental claims are for. A supplemental claim is a request for additional loss or damage from the same peril the carrier already adjusted; a reopened claim revisits a closed file for additional costs on damage already disclosed.

In Florida, notice of a supplemental claim must reach the carrier within 18 months of the date of loss (Fla. Stat. § 627.70132), six months longer than the one-year window for the initial claim. Do not treat the first check as the ceiling. If the accepted scope missed damage, document the gap with photos and a contractor’s estimate and file the supplement inside that window. Keep it tied to the same peril and the same loss date; a genuinely new cause is a new claim with its own deadlines.

What a lowball looks like

Underpayment rarely announces itself. It arrives as a check that looks like progress. The tells are consistent:

• "Closed, below deductible." A first-visit estimate that conveniently lands just under your hurricane deductible, before decking, underlayment, and interior damage were ever counted.
• Repair, not replace. A patch to one slope of a roof whose shingles are discontinued, ignoring the matching problem across the rest of the surface.
• No code upgrades. An estimate that rebuilds to the old, non-compliant spec and omits the law-and-ordinance cost of building back to current code.
• Depreciation that never comes back. Actual-cash-value math that withholds recoverable depreciation and never explains how to claim it after repairs.
• Interior and contents skipped. Roof paid, ceilings, insulation, drywall, flooring, and damaged contents left off the scope entirely.

A lowball is not a final answer. Document the gap, file a supplemental claim, invoke the policy’s appraisal clause or request DFS mediation, or escalate to a denial-review posture. Our library on how carriers deny and short claims takes each move apart, and the recoverable-depreciation guide covers the withheld-depreciation trap in detail.

Filing in Florida vs. South Carolina

Statutes and deadlines summarized as of July 2026, and policy-specific provisions can differ. Read your policy and verify current statute text before relying on it.

Filing a hurricane claim: the questions everyone asks

Not legal advice; consult an attorney about your specific claim.