Category: Commercial Property Insurance Dispute

The gap between what a property owner expects to receive and what an insurer ultimately offers rarely comes from a single decision. More often, it develops through a series of judgment calls about the scope of damage, the cost of repairs, and what the policy requires the insurer to pay.

For most Florida homeowners, the hurricane deductible applies on a calendar year basis rather than per storm. This means if you experience damage from more than one hurricane in the same year, you may not have to pay the full deductible amount twice, as long as you stay with the same insurance company or another company within the same insurer group.

These deadlines are the floor, not the finish line. A simple claim might resolve well inside 60 days. A larger or disputed loss can take longer for honest reasons. The deadlines matter because they give you a measuring stick.

If your insurance company is delaying a property claim, it may go beyond normal processing and signal bad faith—knowing your rights and taking action can help move your claim forward.

You can sue your insurance company when it breaches the contract you paid for or acts in bad faith when handling your claim. Remember, insurance policies are contracts. You pay premiums; the insurer agrees to cover certain losses. When they fail to uphold that agreement, the issue moves beyond a routine claim dispute.

Most property owners don’t expect to fight their own insurance company. You paid for coverage, reported the loss, and followed the process. Yet delays, low estimates, and partial denials are common, especially in Florida where insurers handle high volumes of weather-related damage claims.

You can contact our insurance claim lawyers anytime for a case review, but you should definitely call us if your claim has been pending for weeks without meaningful communication. Insurers tend to respond differently when they know the file is being reviewed by an experienced property insurance lawyer.

Citizens is a necessary option, not necessarily a preferred one. If you're in a high-risk coastal area, have an older home, or have been denied by private carriers, Citizens may be your only realistic choice for property coverage. In that context, having coverage through Citizens is certainly better than being uninsured.