The hours after a named storm passes are when an association’s insurance claim is won or lost. Adjusters move fast, contractors start knocking on doors, and every resident wants to know when their building will be fixed. The boards that come out of a storm in the best position are the ones that already know what to do and in what order.
This checklist is written for Florida HOA and condominium board members. Keep a printed copy with your emergency contacts before hurricane season starts.
Hour 0 to 12: safety and communication
1. Keep everyone off the roofs. No board member, volunteer, or resident should climb onto a damaged roof or into a flooded structure. Downed power lines, weakened decking, and standing water cause more post-storm injuries than the storm itself.
2. Account for residents. Use your emergency contact list to check on residents, especially elderly or disabled owners and anyone who stayed through the storm.
3. Send one clear message to owners. Tell them what the board knows, what it doesn’t yet know, when the next update will come, and how to report damage to their own unit or home. One consistent message prevents a flood of conflicting reports.
4. Know your emergency powers. Florida law gives both condominium and HOA boards specific emergency powers after a declared state of emergency, including the ability to hold meetings on short notice and to contract for emergency repairs. Your association attorney can confirm what applies to your community.
Hour 12 to 48: document everything before anything changes
The single most important thing a board can do is create a dated, independent record of the damage before repairs begin and before an adjuster arrives.
5. Photograph and video every building, from every side. Capture wide shots to show location and close-ups to show detail. Include roofs (from the ground or by drone, never by climbing), gutters, soffits, windows, doors, fences, pools, clubhouses, and landscaping. Make sure the files keep their date and time stamps.
6. Compare against your pre-storm baseline. An adjuster’s first question is often whether damage was caused by the storm or was already there. If you have a dated condition report from before the storm, you can answer that question with evidence instead of opinion. If you don’t, this is the storm that should convince your board to get one. Our Essential Scan produces exactly that record: a dated, independent roof condition report delivered within 72 hours.
7. Log water intrusion immediately. Interior leaks are where small claims become large ones. Record which units, which rooms, and when the leak was first noticed.
8. Prevent further damage, and keep every receipt. Most policies require the association to take reasonable steps to prevent additional damage, such as tarping roofs and extracting water. Emergency mitigation is expected. Permanent repairs should wait until the damage is documented and the claim is underway.
Hour 48 to 72: the claim and the contractors
9. Notify your insurance carrier promptly. Report the claim as soon as you reasonably can. Florida has shortened the deadlines for filing property insurance claims in recent years, so don’t wait to see whether the damage “looks bad enough.”
10. Know whose policy covers what. In a condominium, the association’s master policy and each owner’s unit policy cover different parts of the building. In an HOA, owners typically insure their own homes and the association insures the common areas. Tell owners early which damage they need to report to their own carrier.
11. Be careful with storm-chasing contractors. After every major storm, out-of-area contractors arrive offering free roof inspections and promising to handle the insurance for you. Before the board signs anything:
- Verify the contractor’s Florida license at myfloridalicense.com.
- Never sign an agreement that gives a contractor control of the insurance claim.
- Be wary of any offer to waive or cover your deductible. Florida law restricts these incentives, and they are a red flag.
12. Understand your options for representation. A public adjuster works for you rather than the carrier, and is paid a percentage of the claim. Florida caps those fees, particularly for claims following a declared emergency. For a large or disputed claim, it’s worth understanding the trade-off before the board commits.
What separates a strong claim from a weak one
After enough storms, the pattern is consistent. Associations that recover fairly have three things in common:
- A pre-storm baseline. Dated, documented condition data showing what the property looked like before the event.
- Independent post-storm documentation. Evidence gathered by someone with no stake in the repair contract or the claim payout.
- A board that acted quickly and in order. Safety, then documentation, then mitigation, then the claim, then contractors.
None of this can be assembled after the fact. The time to put it in place is before the next storm. The free Property Risk Pulse takes about four minutes and shows how prepared your association is today, including whether you have a written storm plan and pre-storm photos.
Before the next storm: a short board to-do list
- Get a current, independent condition assessment of every roof and building the association insures. Property Intelligence keeps that baseline current with two inspections a year and moves you to the front of the queue after a named storm.
- Confirm your master policy’s deductible, coverage limits, and claim-reporting requirements, and budget for the deductible.
- Update your emergency contact list and your owner communication plan.
- Decide in advance who on the board is authorized to approve emergency mitigation spending.
- Know which licensed contractors you would call, and verify their licenses and insurance now, not after the storm.
This article is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Florida’s property insurance laws change frequently. Confirm how they apply to your association with your attorney and your insurance agent.
Sources: Florida Statutes §627.70132 (claim notice deadlines), §718.1265 and §720.316 (association emergency powers), and §489.147 (prohibited property insurance claim practices).