Is My Insurance Company Stalling?
Written and reviewed by Cory Cannon, Esq.
Published Updated
Florida gives your residential property insurer 7 days to acknowledge a claim communication and 60 days to pay or deny the claim, under Fla. Stat. 627.70131. Answer the questions below and this checker compares your claim’s actual dates against each statutory checkpoint, including the exceptions that excuse a late response. It runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent or stored.
This tool provides general information, not legal advice. Deadlines have exceptions. Confirm with an attorney.
The deadline most policyholders are looking for is 60 days: within 60 days after receiving notice of an initial, reopened, or supplemental claim, the insurer must pay or deny the claim or a portion of it, under section 627.70131(7)(a), Florida Statutes. Three faster checkpoints come before it: 7 days to acknowledge a claim communication under subsection (1)(a), 7 days after receiving proof-of-loss statements to begin a reasonably necessary investigation under subsection (3)(a), and 30 days after that receipt to conduct any required physical inspection under subsection (3)(b).
Those four checkpoints do not all start on the same day, which is the single most common source of confusion. The acknowledgment and pay-or-deny clocks run from the insurer’s receipt of notice of the claim. The investigation and inspection clocks run from a later event: the insurer’s receipt of your proof-of-loss statements. A claim reported in June with proof of loss submitted in July has two different starting lines running at once.
Findings summary
- Acknowledge a claim communication: 7 calendar days. Fla. Stat. 627.70131(1)(a).
- Begin a reasonably necessary investigation: 7 days after receipt of proof-of-loss statements. Subsection (3)(a).
- Conduct a required physical inspection: 30 days after that receipt. Subsection (3)(b).
- Pay or deny the claim or a portion of it: 60 days after notice of the claim. Subsection (7)(a).
- A payment made after day 60 bears interest at the section 55.03 rate, accruing from the date the insurer received notice. Subsection (7)(a).
- Mediation, contractual dispute resolution, and an unanswered 10-day information request toll these periods. Subsection (8).
- Subsections (1) through (6) apply to residential property insurers. The 60-day rule also reaches commercial structures and tenant premises of 10,000 square feet or less. Subsections (5)(b) and (7)(b).
How the Clock Works
Checkpoint 1: acknowledgment, 7 days
Subsection (1)(a) requires the insurer to review and acknowledge receipt within 7 calendar days of getting a communication about a claim. Two carve-outs matter. The requirement does not apply if the insurer pays the claim within that 7-day period, and it generally does not apply to communications from a claimant represented by counsel, apart from communications needed to provide forms and instructions. An oral acknowledgment can satisfy the duty only if the insurer makes a dated notation of it in the claim file, which is why the checker asks how the acknowledgment arrived rather than only when.
Checkpoints 2 and 3: investigation at 7 days, inspection at 30
Both run from the insurer’s receipt of your proof-of-loss statements, not from the day you reported. Under subsection (3)(a) the insurer must begin such investigation as is reasonably necessary within 7 days of that receipt, and under subsection (3)(b), if a physical inspection is required, it must happen within 30 days of the same trigger. The statute permits electronic methods of investigation, so a desk review with aerial imagery can start the investigation without anyone visiting the property. If no physical inspection is required, the 30-day checkpoint simply does not arise.
Checkpoint 4: pay or deny, 60 days
This is the checkpoint with teeth. Within 60 days after receiving notice, the insurer must pay or deny the claim or a portion of the claim, and it must give a reasonable written explanation of the basis in the policy, in relation to the facts or applicable law, for the payment, denial, or partial denial. If the payment is less than the insurer’s own detailed estimate of the loss, it must explain the difference in writing. A partial payment counts as action on that portion, which is why a small check on day 55 does not end the analysis for the rest of the claim.
The paperwork that gives you dates
Subsection (6) requires specific language in 12-point bold uppercase type on any preliminary or partial estimate and on any payment that is not full and final. Subsection (4) requires the insurer to keep records of adjusters assigned, communications, the date proof-of-loss statements were received, information requests, inspections, estimates, tolling periods, and claim decisions. Between the two, most of the dates this checker needs are already documented somewhere in the carrier’s own file. Request it.
The Statutory Text That Governs
Subsection (7)(a) sets the central duty and its consequence:
“Within 60 days after an insurer receives notice of an initial, reopened, or supplemental property insurance claim from a policyholder, the insurer shall pay or deny such claim or a portion of the claim unless the failure to pay is caused by factors beyond the control of the insurer.”
The same paragraph adds the price of being late, and the phrasing of the accrual date is worth reading twice:
“Any payment of an initial or supplemental claim or portion of such claim made 60 days after the insurer receives notice of the claim … bears interest at the rate set forth in s. 55.03. Interest begins to accrue from the date the insurer receives notice of the claim.”
Interest does not start on day 61. Once the payment is late, interest is calculated back to the day the carrier learned about the loss. The full section, including the definitions in subsection (5) and the tolling rules in subsection (8), is on the Legislature’s site through the link above.
Three Worked Examples
Example 1: A claim that runs clean
A homeowner reports wind damage on Monday, June 1, 2026. The carrier emails an acknowledgment on June 4. Proof-of-loss statements are received Monday, June 22, and the file shows the investigation opened on June 25. A field adjuster inspects on July 9, and the carrier issues payment with a written explanation on July 28.
| Checkpoint | Clock starts | Due | Actual | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge | June 1 | June 8 | June 4 | On time |
| Begin investigation | June 22 | June 29 | June 25 | On time |
| Physical inspection | June 22 | July 22 | July 9 | On time |
| Pay or deny | June 1 | July 31 | July 28 | On time |
Nothing here is a violation. A claim can feel slow and still be lawful, which is the honest answer this checker is built to give when it applies.
Example 2: A request for information that stops the clock
A claim is reported Monday, April 6, 2026, putting the pay-or-deny deadline at Friday, June 5, 2026. On Monday, May 4, the policyholder receives a written request for material claim information, sent 32 days before the deadline. The policyholder gathers the documents and sends them on Thursday, May 28.
Subsection (8)(b) tolls the requirement when the policyholder fails to provide requested material claims information within 10 days after receiving the request, and the tolling ends when the insurer receives it. The 10 days ran to May 14, and the information arrived 14 days later, so roughly 14 days of tolling attach and the effective deadline moves to about June 19.
One condition limits that rule, and policyholders should check it: tolling under subsection (8)(b) applies only to requests the insurer sent at least 15 days before it was required to pay or deny. A request mailed on day 50 of the 60 does not buy the carrier extra time.
| Event | Date | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Claim reported | April 6, 2026 | 60-day clock starts |
| Baseline pay-or-deny deadline | June 5, 2026 | 627.70131(7)(a) |
| Information request received | May 4, 2026 | Sent 32 days ahead, so the 15-day condition is met |
| 10-day response period ends | May 14, 2026 | Tolling begins |
| Information provided | May 28, 2026 | Tolling ends, about 14 days added |
Example 3: A claim that blows the deadline
A claim is reported Tuesday, March 3, 2026. No acknowledgment ever arrives, no information request is sent, and there is no mediation or appraisal. The carrier denies the claim in writing on Friday, June 12, 2026, which is 101 days after notice.
| Checkpoint | Due | Actual | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge | March 10, 2026 | None | Missed |
| Pay or deny | May 2, 2026 | June 12, 2026 | Missed by 41 days |
Note the pay-or-deny date. Sixty days from March 3 is Saturday, May 2. Chapter 627 has no weekend extension of its own, so the checker treats the statutory date as the date, and any argument for a business-day adjustment is one to raise deliberately rather than assume. What this record establishes is a documented pattern of missed statutory checkpoints. It does not, by itself, establish that the denial was wrong.
What Breaks the Simple Math
Tolling for mediation and appraisal. Subsection (8)(a) tolls these requirements during a mediation proceeding under section 627.7015 or any alternative dispute resolution provided for in the contract, ending when that proceeding ends. Appraisal can consume months of what looks like a 60-day clock.
Factors beyond the insurer’s control. Subsection (5)(a) defines the term narrowly. It covers events that lead the Office of Insurance Regulation to issue an order finding that a declared state of emergency under section 252.36, a reportable security breach, or an information technology issue leaves specified residential insurers reasonably unable to comply, and the Office may not extend the payment or denial period by more than 30 additional days. It also covers policyholder fraud, lack of cooperation, or intentional misrepresentation that reasonably prevents compliance. A general claim of hurricane backlog, with no order behind it, is not on that list.
Who counts as an insurer. Subsection (5)(b) defines “insurer” for subsections (1) through (6) as a residential property insurer, so the acknowledgment and investigation checkpoints are residential rules. The 60-day pay-or-deny duty reaches further: under subsection (7)(b), it covers residential coverage as defined in section 627.4025(1), commercial structural or contents claims where the insured structure is 10,000 square feet or less, and commercial tenant contents claims where the premises is 10,000 square feet or less. Subsection (9) extends the section to surplus lines insurers providing residential coverage.
Represented claimants and fast payers. If you had counsel during the first week, or the carrier paid within 7 days, the acknowledgment checkpoint may simply not apply. The checker asks both questions before labeling anything missed, because a false positive helps nobody.
Partial payment is action. A payment on part of the claim satisfies the duty as to that portion. What it does not do is stop the analysis for the disputed remainder, and subsection (6)(b) requires the carrier to say in bold uppercase type that a non-final payment may be followed by more.
What Happens When the Insurer Misses a Deadline
The direct statutory consequence is interest. A payment made after the 60-day mark bears interest at the rate in section 55.03, accruing from the date the insurer received notice of the claim. On a large loss held for months, that number is not trivial, and it is owed without anyone having to prove bad faith.
What a missed deadline does not do is decide coverage. Section 627.70131 governs claim handling speed. It does not convert a denied claim into a covered one, and it does not create a private right of action on its own. The value of a missed checkpoint is evidentiary: it is a dated, documented fact about how the file was handled, and claim-handling records are exactly what a court looks at later.
Two related paths are worth understanding. The Department of Financial Services accepts consumer complaints about claim handling, and those complaints become part of the carrier’s public regulatory record. Separately, a civil remedy notice under section 624.155 gives the insurer 60 days to cure before a statutory bad faith claim can proceed, and section 624.1551 adds a hard condition for property insurers: no extracontractual action lies until the policyholder has established through an adverse adjudication that the insurer breached the contract and a final judgment has been entered. In plain terms, you generally have to win the contract case first.
One correction worth making, because outdated pages still get it wrong: Florida repealed section 627.428, the one-way attorney fee statute for property insurance suits, in the December 2022 reforms. A missed 60-day deadline does not trigger a fee award under that repealed section, and any page telling you otherwise is describing law that no longer applies.
Where This Fits in Our Practice
A delay case is built from the claim file: the first notice of loss entry, the adjuster assignment log, the dates on every estimate, and the language on every partial payment. I read those records against the statute one checkpoint at a time, because the dates are usually already in the carrier’s own documents, waiting for someone to line them up.
Our delayed claim practice handles claims stuck past the statutory checkpoints, and our denied claim practice and underpaid claim practice handle what happens when the carrier finally acts and gets it wrong. The broader practice sits on our property insurance claims hub, and we work throughout Tampa Bay, including Tampa and St. Petersburg. For the narrative version of these timelines, read how long an insurance company has to pay in Florida. If the delay is running against a filing deadline of your own, check it with our insurance claim deadline calculator.
Consultations are free, and some property insurance matters may be accepted on contingency. Under a contingency agreement, no fee is owed unless there is a recovery, and case costs are addressed in the written fee agreement. If your checker results show a missed checkpoint, contact us and we will look at the file with you.