The first seventy-two hours decide more about your settlement than anything that happens in the following six months. Not because of what you say to the carrier, but because of what evidence still exists by the time anyone measures the loss.

Here is the order that protects both your property and your claim.

Hour zero: safety, and it is not a formality

Downed power lines, standing water near electrical service, gas odor, sagging ceilings and compromised structure all outrank documentation. If entry is not safe, photograph from outside and wait. An unsafe entry can also become the carrier’s argument about who caused what.

What your policy already requires of you

Documentation is not optional diligence. Under the standard homeowners form, your duties after loss include giving prompt notice to the insurer or its agent; protecting the property from further damage, which requires making reasonable and necessary repairs to protect the property and keeping an accurate record of repair expenses; cooperating in the investigation; and preparing an inventory of damaged personal property showing quantity, description, actual cash value and amount of loss, with all bills, receipts and related documents attached that justify the figures.

The same form states that failure to comply with those duties is prejudicial to the insurer. That single sentence is behind most condition-based denials, and doing these things properly is what forecloses the argument.

"Protect the property from further damage" and "do not destroy the evidence" are not in conflict. Tarp the roof and photograph the roof first. Extract the water and photograph the water line first. The order is the whole trick.

Document before anything moves

Wide before close. Every elevation from a distance, then each room from its corners, then the specific damage. Wide shots establish where a close-up is, which is what an adjuster cannot dispute later.
Video with narration. A continuous walk-through, saying what you are seeing and when, is much harder to characterize as selective than a folder of stills.
The water line, before extraction. Photograph the height with something for scale. Once it dries, the line fades and the argument about depth begins.
Above and behind. Attic, crawl space, under sinks, behind appliances, inside closets on shared walls. Hidden damage that was never photographed does not exist by the time the estimate is written.
The roof, safely. From the ground, a window, or a drone. Do not climb a compromised roof.
Serial and model plates. Appliances, HVAC, electronics. They settle valuation disputes instantly.
Contents before disposal. Lay damaged items out, photograph in groups and individually, record age and cost where you can.

Keep the original files rather than screenshots, and back them up the same day to somewhere that is not the phone you are carrying around a flooded house. Photograph file data carries date, time and location, which turns "this happened in the storm" from an assertion into a record.

Emergency repairs: required, and reimbursable

Tarp the roof, board the openings, stop active water intrusion, get fans and dehumidifiers running. This is a policy obligation, not a favor to the carrier. Keep every receipt, including the small ones, and photograph the work as you go. Permanent repairs are different: do not start a rebuild before the loss is documented.

Do not throw it away yet

The instinct after a storm is to get everything to the curb. Damaged building materials and contents are evidence of the scope and the value of your loss, and once they are gone your claim rests entirely on whatever you photographed. Inventory first, dispose second.

Report the claim, and start the clocks

Give notice promptly. Florida bars a claim or reopened claim unless notice was given within 1 year after the date of loss, and for a hurricane the date of loss is the date the hurricane made landfall. You do not need a finished scope or a contractor’s estimate to give notice, and waiting for those is how the deadline gets missed.

Notice starts the carrier’s obligations too: acknowledgment of a claim communication within 7 calendar days, the start of investigation within 7 days after receipt of proof-of-loss statements, any physical inspection within 30 days after receipt of those statements, and payment or denial within 60 days after notice of the claim, all subject to the exceptions the statute defines.

Understand who the first adjuster works for

The adjuster the carrier sends is the carrier’s employee or contractor, and their scope becomes the basis for the offer. That is not a scandal, it is the arrangement. It does mean the only scope written on your behalf is one you commission. The comparison is set out in public adjuster vs insurance adjuster.

If the offer comes back below your hurricane deductible, treat that with the same scrutiny as a denial. It is a scope outcome wearing a coverage outcome’s clothes, and a complete scope frequently moves the number across the line. See hurricane vs all-other-perils deductibles.

If a storm has just hit your area

We respond across Broward and statewide, including Coral Springs, Plantation and Davie. Call before the cleanup crew, not after: documenting the loss independently is what we do, and on wind claims it usually starts with a drone and a thermal camera.

Your policy is the contract, and forms vary by carrier. The provisions described here come from the standard Homeowners 3 Special Form that most Florida homeowners policies are built on. Read your own declarations page and policy form, or send them to us and we will read them with you.

Sources

Related Hurricane Claim Resources

Hurricane Claims Florida Flooding Claims Public Adjuster vs. Insurance Company Adjuster

Hurricane Checklist for Florida Claims