Fla. Citizens Ruling Highlights Late Property Claim Risks
Law360 (August 14, 2025, 8:55 PM EDT) — A recent Florida appellate court ruling affirming that the state’s last-resort insurer properly denied a late-filed claim for hurricane damage wasn’t surprising given legislative changes in recent years, but highlighted the import of filing timely claims, experts say.
Policyholder and carrier attorneys said the Aug. 6 decision in Maria Morales v. Citizens Property Insurance Corp. emphasized a clear point of law — late-filed claims aren’t covered — but was still important to the extent that it stood on recent case law.
Attorneys said that the two-page opinion, which contained little beyond case citations, underscored that there wasn’t much in question for the Third District Court of Appeal to wrestle with. The suit had involved homeowner Maria Morales’ claim for Hurricane Irma damage that she submitted to Citizens almost three years after the September 2017 storm, according to court documents.
Stephen A. Marino Jr., managing partner of the policyholder-focused firm Ver Ploeg & Marino PA, said there was an effort among legislators to limit insurers’ uncertainty when trying to understand why a claim wasn’t reported for years. And while he acknowledged that the basis for certain claims might not be quickly apparent, he said the basis for legitimate claims would be evident in a reasonable amount of time.
“I agree with the decision as a general principle,” Marino told Law360. “I make my living suing insurance companies, and I have for 30 years, but I’m the first person to tell you that you need to give them a chance to do the right thing.”
The volume of claims after a storm like a hurricane is enormous, Marino said, and insurance companies need to have the opportunity to adjust claims. The risk, experts say, is that intervening factors change the nature of the claim. For example, additional types of damage could occur, making it harder for insurers to assess coverage.
“There’s an inequity there to the insurance company that your lack of diligence creates a bigger loss than existed before,” Marino said. “It shouldn’t be the insurance company’s obligation to pay a loss that you created through a lack of diligence.”
An attorney for Morales, Stephan Lopez of the Stephan Lopez Law Firm LLC, said Morales testified that she called Citizens, but it never responded, and that distinguished Morales’ case from one of the cases cited by the Third District Court of Appeal, the 2023 ruling in Navarro v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp.
Despite maintaining that Morales’ case was different, Lopez said, “The courts have been deciding this way for a while.”
A representative of Citizens did not immediately respond to a comment request.
Madelyn Rodriguez, a policyholder attorney with Clausen Choquette PLLC, said she didn’t expect to see many more cases like Morales’, given the legislative changes and clear law around claim filing deadlines. In 2022, Florida legislators approved changes requiring that policyholders give notice for initial damage claims within one year after a loss. That is down from previous five-year and two-year claim filing deadlines, attorneys said.
Policyholders are also now granted 18 months to give notice of supplemental claims, which could allow them more coverage based on findings of additional damage.
Carrier attorney Fred Karlinsky of Greenberg Traurig LLP said there had been abuse of claim-filing deadlines for a number of years before the Legislature’s action. But the changes have resulted in claims being filed in a much more timely fashion, he said.
For insurers, the complications of late claims might involve relevant parties dying, evidence spoliation and the involvement of multiple carriers over a period of time. Insurance is supposed to cover losses that are discernible, Karlinsky added.
“It really has put everyone — the policyholders in particular — in a situation where you’re not paying for fraud and abuse,” Karlinsky told Law360. “Whereas before, you had people that were making claims for things that had nothing to do with the underlying loss that they had initially filed a claim on.”
Rodriguez said she would advise policyholders to not necessarily submit a claim immediately, despite messaging from insurers that they should quickly file a claim. If a policyholder knows there’s damage, but it’s questionable whether they’ll exceed their deductible, it would be worth talking to some experts for an analysis, she said.
Brokers would be a good resource to consult on potential claims, experts say. But “waiting for a year is probably not going to be your best route,” Rodriguez said, referencing the claim-notice deadline.
Still, Rodriguez said one year can be a short time to file a claim in certain instances. Finding roofers or engineers could be difficult after disasters, and important information like an insurance policy itself could be lost. That could add extra difficulty for people unfamiliar with insurance claims processes, or best ways to go about repairs, she said. And people may simply not become aware of damage until later on, she added.
–Editing by Abbie Sarfo and Nick Petruncio.
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