Storm events we handle
- Named hurricanes: Category 1 through 5, including post-Ian, post-Idalia, post-Helene, and post-Milton work
- Tropical storms: wind and wind-driven rain without formal hurricane status
- Severe thunderstorms: straight-line winds, hail
- Tornadoes: including hurricane-spawned tornado events inland
- Coastal flooding events: subject to flood-coverage availability (NFIP or private flood policy)
Why storm claims are commonly underpaid
- Post-event claim volume pressure. Carriers process thousands of claims in weeks. Field adjusters spend less time on each. Scope gaps are the predictable result.
- Wind vs. flood causation. The single biggest storm-claim battle. Wind damage is covered under the HO-3; flood is not (requires separate NFIP or private flood policy). Water-from-wind-created-openings is generally covered.
- Hurricane deductible misapplication. Named-storm deductibles don't apply to non-named events; verify the event classification and the policy trigger language.
- Interior water damage from wind-driven rain: covered when the wind created an opening but often denied as "gradual" or "intrusion."
- Matching statute ignored. Discontinued tile and shingle lines trigger Fla. Stat. 626.9744: often forcing full-roof or full-slope replacement.
Supplemental storm claims
Florida Statute 627.70132 gives policyholders 18 months from date of loss to file a supplemental claim. After a major storm, supplemental filings are where much of the real recovery happens: the initial payment covers headline damage, and the supplemental captures everything else.
Common supplemental scope:
- Scope the first adjuster missed
- Damage that emerged after temporary mitigation
- Code upgrades not captured in initial estimate
- Matching recovery
- Extended ALE when the restoration period runs longer than expected
How Ocean Point handles storm claims
- Rapid on-site documentation: drone, Matterport, and moisture readings before secondary damage obscures the event.
- Event correlation: NOAA wind speed, tornado path, rainfall totals tied to the property's coordinates.
- Xactimate estimate with code upgrades, matching, and labor mobilization.
- Tracking Fla. Stat. 627.70131 carrier response deadlines: building the bad-faith record if the carrier breaches.
- Appraisal, mediation, or CRN when the carrier won't pay fairly.
Who leads storm claims at Ocean Point
Eli Goins (FL DFS #P159790) leads major-event coordination, hurricane-specific claims, and appraisal or CRN escalation when the carrier won't pay fairly.