How long do I have to file a hurricane claim in Florida?
One year from the date of loss to report a claim or reopened claim, and 18 months for a supplemental claim, under Fla. Stat. 627.70132. For a hurricane the date of loss is the day the storm made landfall. Miss the window and the claim is barred, whatever the policy would have covered.
| New or reopened claim | 1 year after the date of loss, 627.70132(2) |
|---|---|
| Supplemental claim | 18 months after the date of loss, 627.70132(2) |
| Date of loss, hurricane | The date the hurricane made landfall, 627.70132(3) |
| Date of loss, other weather | The date NOAA verifies the event, 627.70132(3) |
| Deadline to sue | Separate: 5 years from the date of loss, 95.11(2)(e) |
- • A claim or reopened claim is barred unless notice was given within 1 year after the date of loss, under 627.70132(2).
- • A supplemental claim is barred unless notice was given within 18 months after the date of loss, same subsection.
- • For a hurricane, the date of loss is the date the hurricane made landfall. For other weather events it is the date NOAA verifies, under 627.70132(3).
- • A supplemental claim is additional loss or damage from the same peril, on a claim already adjusted or already open with timely notice, under 627.70132(1).
- • These are notice deadlines, not suit deadlines. Suit runs on 95.11(2)(e), and 627.70132(5) says this section does not affect that.
The section, subsection by subsection
The definitions
Defines reopened claim and supplemental claim. A supplemental claim is a claim for additional loss or damage from the same peril that the insurer has previously adjusted, or for which costs were incurred completing repairs on an open claim with timely prior notice.
The bars
A claim or reopened claim, but not a supplemental claim, is barred unless notice was given within 1 year after the date of loss. A supplemental claim is barred unless notice was given within 18 months after the date of loss. Deadlines toll for servicemembers whose ability to file is materially affected by deployment to a combat zone.
The date of loss
For a hurricane, the date of loss is the date the hurricane made landfall. For a tornado, windstorm, severe rain, or other weather-related event, it is the date the event is verified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Loss assessment claims
For loss assessment coverage, notice is due within 1 year after the date of loss, or 90 days after the association votes to levy the assessment, whichever is later.
It does not touch the suit clock
The section does not affect any limitation on a civil action set by another statute. Reporting on time keeps the claim alive; it does not extend your deadline to sue.
When the clock actually starts
Not the day you found the stain. Not the day the roofer came out. 627.70132(3) fixes the date of loss for a hurricane at the date the hurricane made landfall, and for a tornado, windstorm, severe rain, or other weather-related event at the date NOAA verifies the event. Everyone the storm hit is on the same clock.
That rule is neutral on its face and it cuts against slow discovery. Interior water damage that surfaces eight months after landfall is already two thirds of the way through the reporting window. Roof damage found during a sale inspection two years later is outside it entirely. Anything you suspect is storm-related after a named event gets reported now, in writing, with photographs and a date, even while you are still figuring out how bad it is. The photo protocol and the deadline countdown exist for exactly this stretch.
Recent Florida storms, and where the windows landed
Landfall dates below come from the National Hurricane Center reports. Every notice window for every recent Florida hurricane has now closed. That is not the end of every claim: a claim reported on time and mishandled since is still live, and the deadline to sue on the policy runs for five years from the same date of loss.
Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole came ashore before the 1-year and 18-month deadlines took effect, so those losses ran on the prior 2-year and 3-year windows:
Dates are anniversary arithmetic from the landfall date and are shown for orientation, not as legal advice. Month-end losses can shift a day, servicemember tolling applies under 627.70132(2), loss assessment claims run on 627.70132(4), and which window governs depends on the policy in force. Confirm against your own policy.
What actually counts as a supplemental claim
The extra six months only exists if your claim fits the definition in 627.70132(1): additional loss or damage from the same peril, on a claim the insurer has already adjusted, or for which costs were incurred while completing repairs on an open claim you reported on time. Two conditions do the work. Same peril, and a timely original notice.
The pattern this is built for is common on storm claims: the roof is scoped and paid, the crew opens it up, and the decking underneath is worse than anyone priced. That is supplemental. A different peril discovered later is a new claim on the 1-year clock, and a claim never reported at all does not get the 18 months at all. Carriers refuse supplementals routinely, which is its own fight; the Heritage supplemental refusal in the denial documents is one on the public record.
The 1-year rule is newer than most losses
627.70132 has been amended repeatedly: 2011, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. The 1-year and 18-month deadlines arrived with Chapter 2022-271, the December 2022 special-session property insurance law, which took effect on December 16, 2022 and reached insurance contracts issued or renewed after that date. Before it, the windows were 2 years and 3 years.
So the first question on any late-notice denial is not whether you missed the deadline. It is which deadline applied to your policy. Pull the declarations page, find the policy period, and compare it to December 16, 2022 before conceding anything.
When the letter says you reported too late
Check three things before you accept it. First, the date the carrier is using: 627.70132(3) fixes the date of loss at landfall or NOAA verification, and letters sometimes count from a later inspection or an earlier storm. Second, the window that governed your policy, per the section above. Third, what the carrier did with the claim after you reported it, because a carrier that inspected, estimated, and negotiated for months before raising notice has a record that has to be explained.
Late-notice letters are a recognizable genre, and several sit in the denial documents with the language intact. If the letter also fails to state a policy basis, or arrived past the carrier's own 60-day deadline, those failures go in the same written rebuttal.
627.70132 questions, answered
How long do I have to file a hurricane claim in Florida? +
One year from the date of loss to give notice of a claim or a reopened claim, and 18 months for a supplemental claim, under Fla. Stat. 627.70132(2). For a hurricane, 627.70132(3) fixes the date of loss as the date the hurricane made landfall, so the clock is the same for everyone the storm hit, not the day you noticed the damage.
What is the difference between a reopened claim and a supplemental claim? +
Both follow a claim you already reported. A reopened claim asks the insurer to look again at a claim it closed, and it runs on the 1-year window. A supplemental claim, defined in 627.70132(1), is a claim for additional loss or damage from the same peril on a claim already adjusted or still open with timely notice, and it gets the longer 18-month window.
Does the 1-year deadline mean I cannot sue after a year? +
No. Those are different clocks. 627.70132 is a notice deadline: give the insurer notice inside the window or the claim is barred. The deadline to file suit on the policy is five years from the date of loss under Fla. Stat. 95.11(2)(e), and 627.70132(5) says this section does not affect limitations set by another statute.
The carrier says my claim is late. Is that the end of it? +
Not automatically. Check which window applied to your policy: the 1-year and 18-month deadlines came in with Chapter 2022-271, effective December 16, 2022, and older policies ran on 2-year and 3-year windows. Then check the date the insurer is using, because 627.70132(3) fixes the date of loss at landfall or at NOAA verification, not at the date you first called.
My condo association just levied an assessment. Which deadline applies? +
Loss assessment coverage gets its own rule in 627.70132(4): notice within 1 year after the date of loss, or 90 days after the association votes to levy the assessment, whichever is later. That is the one place in this section where an event after the storm can extend the window.
What if I was deployed when the storm hit? +
Fla. Stat. 627.70132(2) tolls the deadlines for a servicemember whose ability to file was materially affected by deployment to a combat zone or a combat-support posting. Bring the orders and the dates; the tolling is written into the statute rather than left to the carrier.
- Fla. Stat. 627.70132, notice of property insurance claim · flsenate.gov ↗
- Fla. Stat. 627.70132 (2021 text, the prior 2-year and 3-year windows) · flsenate.gov ↗
- Fla. Stat. 95.11, limitations (5 years from the date of loss) · flsenate.gov ↗
- Hurricane Ian landfall, NHC Tropical Cyclone Report · nhc.noaa.gov ↗
- Hurricane Helene landfall, NHC Tropical Cyclone Report · nhc.noaa.gov ↗
- Hurricane Milton landfall, NHC Tropical Cyclone Report · nhc.noaa.gov ↗
Statute summaries drafted August 2026 and simplified for education; verify against current statute. Deadline dates are anniversary arithmetic from published landfall dates and depend on the policy in force. Not legal advice; consult an attorney about your specific claim.
Told you reported too late?
Send the letter, the declarations page, and the date you first reported. You will get a straight answer on which window governed your policy, which date the statute actually uses, and what is still open.
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