Condo Association Claim Steps After a Loss in Florida

Step 1: Protect people and the building

The first hours after a storm, fire or burst riser are about safety and stopping the damage from spreading. Most property policies require the insured to protect the property from further damage and keep records of what that costs. For an association, the board acts for the building, even while dozens of owners deal with damage inside their own units.

When the Governor has declared a state of emergency for your area, Florida gives condo boards extra powers in s. 718.1265. Unless the declaration, articles or bylaws specifically prohibit it, the board may:

• Mitigate further damage, including removing wet drywall, insulation, carpet and cabinetry, even where the owner is the one who insures those items.
• Contract on behalf of owners for drying units, boarding broken windows or doors, and similar work, with those owners repaying the association’s actual cost.
• Levy special assessments without a vote of the owners, and borrow to fund emergency repairs when operating funds run short.
• Decide, on the advice of officials or licensed professionals, whether parts of the property are safe to enter or occupy.

Those powers last only as long as reasonably necessary to protect health and safety, mitigate further damage and make emergency repairs. Before anything is torn out, photograph and video every area: roofs, stairwells, hallways, mechanical rooms and each unit the board enters. Our guide to documenting storm damage before you clean up lists what to capture.

Step 2: Report the claim and gather the policies

Report the loss to the association’s insurer in writing as soon as you can, and keep the claim number with the board’s records. Your policy may require prompt notice. Florida also sets an outer limit: a new or reopened claim is barred unless notice reached the insurer within 1 year after the date of loss, and a supplemental claim within 18 months. For a hurricane, the date of loss is the date of landfall (s. 627.70132).

Then pull together the papers the claim will turn on. The association’s current insurance policies are official records it must keep (s. 718.111(12)), so the manager or board secretary should be able to produce them quickly:

• The declarations page for every policy: property, wind, flood and any excess layers.
• The deductible schedule. The board sets deductibles at a board meeting, based on available funds and assessment authority (s. 718.111(11)(c)).
• The declaration of condominium, the bylaws and recorded amendments, including any recorded vote to opt out of the statutory repair cost rules.
• The latest insurance appraisal or update of replacement cost. Replacement cost must be determined at least once every 3 years (s. 718.111(11)(a)).
• Maintenance and repair records that show the condition of roofs, windows and plumbing before the loss.

The insurer has its own timelines to acknowledge, inspect and pay or deny. The Florida claim deadlines guide covers both sides.

Step 3: Separate the association’s claim from the owners’ claims

Florida draws this line for every residential condominium, whatever the date of its declaration. Under s. 718.111(11)(f), the association’s policy must cover the condominium property as originally installed, or replacement of like kind and quality, plus alterations made under s. 718.113(2). The same paragraph excludes these items when they sit inside a unit and serve only that unit, and makes them the owner’s responsibility:

• Floor, wall and ceiling coverings.
• Electrical fixtures, appliances, water heaters and water filters.
• Built-in cabinets and countertops.
• Window treatments such as curtains, drapes and blinds.
• All personal property in the unit.

Property the association must insure is repaired as a common expense when an insurable event damages it, and deductibles and damage above the coverage are common expenses too. The exception is damage caused by the intentional conduct, negligence or rule violation of an owner, tenant or guest; that owner pays what insurance does not (s. 718.111(11)(j)). The association also need not pay for upgrades that benefit only one unit and were not part of the original construction (s. 718.111(11)(n)).

Reconstruction is the association’s job. An owner may do work on the unit only with the board’s prior written consent, and the board can set conditions on the repair method, the contractor and the contract (s. 718.111(11)(g)). For the full side-by-side, see condo master policy vs HO-6.

Who usually handles each part of a Florida condo claim

Step 4: Tell owners what to do, in writing

Owners often assume the association’s claim covers everything. A short written notice early on prevents a lot of confusion later. Include:

• What the association’s claim covers and what it does not, in plain terms.
• A request that each owner report unit damage to the association and to their own insurer now. The association is not obligated to pay for losses an owner knew or should have known about but did not report until after the association’s claim was settled or denied as untimely (s. 718.111(11)(j)4.).
• Who to contact, how access to units will work, and how the board will share updates.
• The date of any vote to levy a special assessment, once that vote happens.

That last item matters because of loss assessment coverage. Every Florida unit owner policy must include some (s. 627.714). Notice of a loss assessment claim must reach the owner’s insurer by the later of 1 year after the date of loss or 90 days after the board votes to levy the assessment, and never later than 3 years after the loss (s. 627.70132(4)). Our after-hurricane-season deadlines page quotes that rule.

Meetings still follow chapter 718. Board meetings with a quorum are open to owners, and notice is posted at least 48 continuous hours ahead except in an emergency. A meeting to consider a nonemergency special assessment needs written notice to owners at least 14 days before it (s. 718.112(2)(c)1.).

Step 5: Decide who handles which part of the claim

Officers and directors have a fiduciary relationship to the unit owners (s. 718.111(1)(a)), so the board benefits from a clear record of who did what. On most association claims the roles look like this:

• The board approves contracts, deductibles, assessments and the final settlement at a properly noticed meeting.
• The community association manager, if you have one, usually handles notices, vendor scheduling, records and owner updates.
• The association’s attorney answers questions about the declaration, owner disputes, coverage denials on legal grounds and any lawsuit. A public adjuster may not give legal advice (s. 626.854(3)).
• A public adjuster, if the board hires one, prepares, documents and negotiates the association’s property claim. Florida generally limits paid preparation and negotiation of a claim for an insured to attorneys and licensed public adjusters (s. 626.854(20)).

A public adjuster is not always needed. If the loss is small next to the deductible, or the insurer’s estimate already covers the full scope, the board may handle the claim directly. State mediation under s. 627.7015 is available for commercial residential policies, a category that includes condominium association policies (s. 627.4025(1)), and the insurer bears the cost of the conference. Adjusterman is not affiliated with that program.

If the board wants a second look first, Adjusterman offers a free claim review that can tell you whether the damage looks covered before anyone signs. Whoever you hire, get the fee, what it applies to, and how to cancel in writing before the board votes. See condominium association claims for how we document a building, and our guide to condo and HOA public adjusters for how to compare firms.