Florida’s new roof law reshapes how homeowners insurance handles roof damage in three ways that matter to your wallet: insurers can depreciate payouts on roofs 15 years and older, they can charge a separate deductible that applies only to the roof, and partial repairs now satisfy the building code instead of triggering a full replacement. The same package of reforms, passed in late 2022 and early 2023, also stripped out the assignment of benefits agreements and the one-way attorney fee rule that homeowners once relied on to push back against low claim offers. If your roof has any age on it, these changes affect what you would actually collect after a covered loss.
Older Roofs and Depreciated Payouts
The biggest financial change involves how insurers value damage on older roofs. Insurers can now write policies that pay only the actual cash value of a damaged roof rather than full replacement cost. Actual cash value means depreciation comes off the top based on the roof’s age and condition. On a 20-year-old roof with a 25-year expected lifespan, the depreciation deduction can leave you covering tens of thousands of dollars yourself, even with otherwise strong coverage on the home.
This depreciated payout option applies to roofs that are at least 15 years old or that have less than five years of useful life remaining. If your roof is younger than 15 years, your insurer cannot refuse to write or renew your policy based on roof age alone. Once a roof crosses the 15-year mark, the insurer must give you the chance to get a professional inspection before requiring a full replacement as a condition of coverage. If the inspection shows the roof has five or more years of useful life left, the insurer cannot drop you solely because of age.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 627.7011 – Homeowner Claims
Check your declarations page for whether the roof is covered at replacement cost or actual cash value. Many homeowners don’t notice this shifted at renewal until they file a claim. When an older roof has been moved to actual cash value, the gap between your check and the cost of a new roof can be significant.
Separate Roof Deductibles
Florida insurers can now include a deductible that applies only to roof damage, separate from your standard policy deductible. This roof-specific deductible can be up to two percent of your dwelling coverage limit or 50 percent of the cost to replace the roof, whichever is lower.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 627.701 – Liability of Insureds; Coinsurance; Deductibles On a home insured for $400,000, two percent means an $8,000 deductible before any roof coverage kicks in.
Insurers must offer you the option to decline the separate roof deductible, and accepting it usually lowers your premium. That trade-off can make sense if your roof is newer and you’re comfortable self-insuring smaller damage. Run the number first. When a roof deductible applies, your insurer may limit the initial claim payment to actual cash value until you show proof that you paid the deductible, such as a canceled check or a signed financing agreement.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 627.7011 – Homeowner Claims
The separate roof deductible generally does not apply when the home is a total loss, when the damage comes from a hurricane, or when something like a falling tree punctures the roof deck.
The 25 Percent Repair Rule
Florida used to require that if 25 percent or more of a roof was damaged, the entire roof had to be replaced to meet the current building code. Relatively modest storm damage could trigger a full teardown, and that drove up claim costs across the market. The updated rule works differently. When more than 25 percent of a roof or roof section is repaired or replaced, only the repaired portion has to comply with the current Florida Building Code. The undamaged sections can stay as they are.
Partial repairs are now a realistic option in situations that previously demanded complete replacement. That can reduce your out-of-pocket cost and speed up the timeline. The trade-off is durability: a patched roof with older material next to new sections may not perform as well in the next storm as a full replacement would. Weigh the short-term savings against how long you plan to keep the home.
Assignment of Benefits Is Gone
Before the reforms, contractors routinely asked homeowners to sign an assignment of benefits agreement after storm damage. That document transferred your insurance rights to the contractor, letting them bill your insurer directly, negotiate the claim amount, and sue the insurer in your place. The arrangement produced inflated invoices and heavy litigation, which pushed premiums up statewide.
For any policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2023, assignment of benefits agreements for property insurance claims are effectively prohibited. Contractors can no longer step into your shoes and deal with your insurer as if they hold the policy.
The practical consequence is that you manage your own claim now. You hire the contractor, you negotiate with the insurer, and you pay the contractor from the claim proceeds. Some contractors offer a “direction to pay” arrangement, where you authorize your insurer to send the claim check directly to the contractor. A direction to pay does not transfer your policy rights the way an assignment of benefits did. Your insurer is not legally required to honor it, though some will as a convenience. Treat it as a payment instruction, not a substitute for staying involved in your claim.
Suing Your Insurer Is Harder
One-Way Attorney Fees Are Eliminated
The old one-way attorney fee rule was the engine behind much of Florida’s property insurance litigation. If a homeowner won a suit or settled for even slightly more than the insurer’s initial offer, the insurer paid the homeowner’s attorney fees. Insurers carried all the litigation risk, so filing suit on nearly any disputed claim made sense for attorneys.
The legislature repealed that provision. Under the new law, each side pays its own attorney fees regardless of who wins. That changes the math for homeowners considering a lawsuit. If your claim is worth $15,000 and litigation would cost $20,000 in fees, suing no longer makes financial sense the way it once did. Homeowners with legitimate disputes should still pursue them, but the economics now favor working through the insurer’s internal dispute process or appraisal before hiring a lawyer.
Higher Bar for Bad Faith Claims
House Bill 837, which took effect on March 24, 2023, raised the threshold for suing your insurer for bad faith.3Florida Senate. Florida House Bill 837 – Civil Remedies A homeowner used to be able to point to an accepted appraisal award or offer of judgment as evidence that the insurer acted in bad faith by underpaying. That path is closed. You must now first obtain a court finding that the insurer actually breached the insurance contract before pursuing a separate bad faith action. The law also requires showing that the insurer’s conduct was intentional, not just careless or slow.
Mandatory Pre-Suit Notice
Before filing suit against your insurer, you must send a written notice of intent to litigate to the Florida Department of Financial Services at least 10 business days before filing. The notice has to describe what the insurer did wrong and include a settlement demand or damage estimate.4FindLaw. Florida Code 627.70152 – Suits Arising Under a Property Insurance Policy Skip this step and a court can dismiss your case. The notice period gives the insurer a last chance to resolve the claim, and in practice it filters out some disputes before they reach court.
Roof Upgrades That Lower Your Premium
Florida insurers offer premium discounts for homes with construction features that reduce storm damage risk. If you are replacing a roof anyway, upgrading to impact-resistant materials or meeting FORTIFIED Home standards from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety can produce meaningful savings on your wind premium. The exact discount depends on the insurer and the specific upgrades. Some carriers in high-wind states offer reductions as large as 50 percent on the wind portion of the premium.
Even without a full replacement, a wind mitigation inspection that documents features like a secondary water barrier, hurricane straps, or a hip roof shape can qualify you for credits. Florida requires insurers to offer these mitigation discounts. If you have never had a wind mitigation inspection, getting one is one of the simplest steps toward a lower premium.
What to Do Before Your Next Renewal
Pull your declarations page and read three things: whether the roof is covered at replacement cost or actual cash value, whether a separate roof deductible applies, and what the deductible amount is. Those three details control how much you would actually receive after a roof claim.
If your roof is approaching 15 years old, schedule a professional inspection before your next renewal. A documented inspection showing five or more years of remaining life prevents your insurer from refusing to renew based on age alone.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 627.7011 – Homeowner Claims Inspections typically run a few hundred dollars and can head off an unwanted cancellation or a forced reroof.
Be cautious with any contractor who asks you to sign documents transferring your claim rights. Assignment of benefits agreements are no longer enforceable for current policies, and you should remain the point of contact with your insurer throughout the claims process. If you feel your insurer is undervaluing a claim and cannot resolve it through the insurer’s own dispute process, consider hiring a public adjuster before escalating to an attorney. Public adjusters in Florida are capped at 20 percent of the claim recovery on contingency, while attorneys typically charge 30 to 40 percent. A public adjuster handles documentation and negotiation; an attorney handles litigation. Start with the less expensive option and escalate only if you need to.