Roofing Insurance Laws in Florida

Informational only — not legal advice. Laws and case precedent change, and outcomes depend on your specific policy language. Verify current law with your state Department of Insurance or a qualified attorney before relying on it.

Can insurers depreciate labor when calculating ACV?

Permitted

Florida permits carriers to depreciate labor as well as materials when computing actual cash value. Expect labor depreciation on the ACV check, and expect to recover it only through the recoverable-depreciation process after the work is complete. Build your estimate and your homeowner conversation around that reality.

Authority

Goff v. State Farm Florida Ins. Co., 999 So. 2d 684, 689 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008), holds it proper to depreciate both materials and labor in arriving at actual cash value. The Florida Supreme Court cited Goff favorably in Trinidad v. Florida Peninsula Ins. Co., 121 So. 3d 433 (Fla. 2013). No statute bars the practice. Fla. Stat. § 627.7011 governs ACV and replacement-cost payment obligations on residential property policies and says nothing about depreciating labor.

Goff v. State Farm Florida Ins. Co. (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) — FindLaw opinion · Fla. Stat. § 627.7011 (2025) — Florida Senate official text

Must insurers replace undamaged materials so the repair matches?

Required

Florida has a matching statute directly on point: when replaced items do not match in quality, color, or size, the insurer must make reasonable repairs or replacement in adjoining areas. On a roof, that is the statutory basis for demanding replacement of undamaged slopes rather than a patch. Read the policy first, because the duty applies only unless the policy provides otherwise, and matching-limitation endorsements are now common.

Authority

Fla. Stat. § 626.9744(2) requires that when a loss requires replacement of items and the replaced items do not match in quality, color, or size, the insurer shall make reasonable repairs or replacement of items in adjoining areas. It reaches personal lines residential policies settling first-party losses on a repair or replacement-cost basis. Two qualifications. The subsection opens "Unless otherwise provided by the policy," so a matching-limitation endorsement can cap or eliminate the obligation. The duty runs only to reasonable repairs, and the insurer may weigh the cost of repairing or replacing undamaged portions, the degree of uniformity achievable without that cost, the remaining useful life of the undamaged portion, and other relevant factors.

Fla. Stat. § 626.9744 — Official Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine, 2025 Statutes) · Fla. Stat. § 626.9744 — The Florida Senate

Can a contractor pay or waive the homeowner's deductible?

Prohibited

Florida bans this outright. You may not offer a homeowner a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, or waiver of any insurance deductible in exchange for a roof inspection or for making a roof-damage claim, and actually paying, waiving, or rebating a deductible is a felony. "We'll cover your deductible" and "no out-of-pocket cost" pitches are unlawful in the offering, before any work is done.

You may

Bill the carrier the price you actually charge
Collect the full deductible from the homeowner
Offer a payment plan or third-party financing for the deductible
Give a genuine, disclosed discount on your price, understanding the carrier then pays proportionally less
Include the required deductible and felony disclosures in any advertisement urging a roof claim

You may not

Offer to waive, absorb, or rebate the deductible
Offer a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, or coupon for a roof inspection or roof claim
Advertise "no out-of-pocket cost" or "free roof" on an insurance job
Inflate the estimate to bury the deductible
Run a roof-claim advertisement without the required disclosures

Penalty: Paying, waiving, or rebating a deductible is a third-degree felony, and a civil violation draws CILB discipline plus fines up to $10,000 per violation.

Authority

Fla. Stat. § 489.147(2)(b) bars a contractor from offering a residential property owner a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, waiver of any insurance deductible, or any other thing of value in exchange for allowing a roof inspection or making a roof-damage insurance claim. Section 489.147(1)(a) defines "prohibited advertisement" and sets the disclosures any communication urging a roof-damage claim must carry. Section 489.147(3) provides discipline under § 489.129 plus a fine up to $10,000 per violation. The criminal prohibition sits elsewhere. Fla. Stat. § 817.234(7)(d) makes it a third-degree felony for a contractor to knowingly or willfully, and with intent to injure, defraud, or deceive, pay, waive, or rebate all or part of an insurance deductible. The statutes reach waiver and rebate, not lending. Financing the deductible or accepting it in installments remains lawful, as does a genuine discount that is disclosed and reflected in what you bill the carrier.

Fla. Stat. § 489.147 (2025) — official Florida Senate · Fla. Stat. § 817.234 (2025) — official Florida Senate (insurance fraud; (7)(d) deductible felony) · Florida CFO / Insurance Consumer Advocate — Contractor Prohibitions (.gov) · DBPR / CILB SB 76 Fact Sheet (.gov)

Can a contractor negotiate the homeowner's claim?

Prohibited

Florida lets a licensed contractor write, submit, supplement, and defend an estimate for its own work directly with the carrier's adjuster. What requires a public adjuster license is stepping into the claim itself: interpreting the policy, advising the insured on coverage, or negotiating the settlement. The line is "here is my scope and price, and here is why this line item belongs in it," not "I'll handle your claim."

You may

Prepare and submit a good faith itemized estimate for your own work
Submit supplements as concealed damage or code items surface
Discuss and explain your bid with the homeowner or the insurer
Defend a line item on scope, method, and price with the adjuster
Suggest the homeowner contact the insurer to find out whether the proposed repair is covered
Charge only the usual and customary fees stated in your contract

You may not

Interpret policy provisions or explain what the policy covers
Advise the insured on coverages or duties under the policy
Negotiate or effect settlement of the claim for the insured
Prepare, complete, or file the homeowner's claim
Advertise, solicit, offer to handle, or perform public adjuster services
Offer a deductible waiver, gift card, or cash to obtain a roof inspection or claim, or pay or take a referral fee tied to insurance proceeds

Penalty: Acting as or holding out as an unlicensed public adjuster is a third-degree felony with each act a separate offense; DFS may impose administrative fines, and a § 489.147 violation carries CILB discipline plus up to $10,000 per violation.

Authority

Fla. Stat. § 489.147(2)(d) bars a contractor from interpreting policy provisions, advising an insured on coverages or duties, or adjusting a claim on the insured's behalf without a public adjuster license under part VI of chapter 626. Section 489.147(2)(e) requires a good faith itemized estimate and acknowledges the final cost may change as a result of the insurer adjusting the claim. Section 489.147(2)(b)-(c) bars inducements for a roof inspection or claim and referral compensation tied to insurance proceeds. Penalties run under § 489.147(3) and (4)(b). Fla. Stat. § 626.854(1) defines a public adjuster to include one who for value prepares, completes, or files a claim for an insured or aids an insured in negotiating for or effecting settlement, and excludes a person performing duties under another professional license who does not otherwise solicit, adjust, investigate, or negotiate a settlement. Section 626.854(20) extends the same bar to any unlicensed person. Section 626.854(16) prohibits a chapter 489 contractor from advertising, soliciting, offering to handle, handling, or performing public adjuster services, and expressly permits the contractor to suggest the consumer contact the insurer about coverage and to discuss or explain a bid for construction or repair of covered property with the owner or the insurer for the usual and customary fees stated in the contract. Enforcement runs through Fla. Stat. § 626.8738, which makes acting as or holding out as an unlicensed public adjuster a third-degree felony with each act a separate offense, and § 626.854(21), under which DFS may take administrative action and impose fines. The $10,000 per act fine at § 626.854(23)(c), doubling to $20,000 during a Governor-declared state of emergency, reaches only the acts prohibited by subsection (23) itself, including the roof-inspection inducement and referral-compensation acts in (23)(a).

Fla. Stat. s. 489.147 – Prohibited property insurance practices; contract requirements (Florida Senate official text, 2025; see (2)(b)-(e), (3), (4), (7)) · Fla. Stat. s. 626.854 – "Public adjuster" defined; prohibitions (Florida Senate official text, 2025; see (1), (16), (20), (21), (23)) · Fla. Stat. s. 626.8738 – Penalty for violation (unlicensed public adjusting is a third-degree felony; each act a separate offense) (Florida Senate official text, 2025) · Fla. Stat. s. 489.129 – Disciplinary proceedings (penalty vehicle referenced by s. 489.147(3)) (Florida Senate official text, 2025) · Florida DFS / Insurance Consumer Advocate – "Contractor Prohibitions" permissible vs. prohibited chart (myfloridacfo.com, PDF)

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