Boca Raton storm & claim resource

Boca Raton has ridden out the same century of Palm Beach County storms, the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane’s core crossed the county, Frances and Jeanne came ashore just up the coast in 2004, Wilma raked the region in 2005, and Irma forced a countywide evacuation in 2017. On a city that runs from oceanfront to canal-laced interior, the resulting claims raise the hardest question in Florida property insurance: which storm, and which peril, owes for the damage?

What Boca Raton claims turn on

Surge is flood, and flood is excluded from every homeowners policy; it needs NFIP or private flood coverage. Wind is covered, behind a hurricane deductible that is a percentage of the home’s insured value, not the loss. The beachfront and Intracoastal lots flood from surge and tidal backup, while the interior communities flood from rain and canal overflow, so the same storm can trigger separate wind and flood claims, and the two carriers each point at the other. In Boca’s many condos and gated HOAs, the unit-owner policy and the association master policy add a third line to the dispute.

The law here

Florida gives you one year from the date of loss to give notice of a hurricane claim and 18 months for a supplemental claim (§ 627.70132, as amended by SB 2-A in 2023), and the carrier must pay or deny within 60 days of a complete proof of loss (§ 627.70131). For storms that are already years past, those notice windows have generally closed, but a claim you already filed that was denied or underpaid can still have options, and the deadline to sue on a filed claim is longer. These are general figures; confirm the current statutes and your own dates with counsel before relying on them.