Florida AOB Roofing Reform 2026: What Contractors and Homeowners Need to Know

By The Roofing Brief Team. Last reviewed: October 2026.

The florida aob roofing rules changed in four steps between 2019 and 2023, and for any property policy issued on or after January 1, 2023, a post-loss assignment of benefits is void under s. 627.7152(13), Florida Statutes. HB 7065 (ch. 2019-57) created the assignment-agreement rules, SB 76 (ch. 2021-77) added roofing-contract and solicitation rules, SB 2-A (ch. 2022-271, December 2022) ended assignments for new policies, and HB 837 (ch. 2023-15, March 2023) repealed the one-way attorney fee statutes. Related: Florida residential roofing cooldown.

The table below sorts the rules by what a reader is facing, and the sections after it give the statute text behind each row.

If this is your situation	Then this rule applies
Your policy was issued or renewed as a new policy on or after January 1, 2023	An assignment of post-loss benefits is void, invalid and unenforceable (s. 627.7152(13)). Use a direct contract with the contractor.
Your policy was issued July 1, 2019 through December 31, 2022 and you signed an assignment	The agreement needs a 14-day rescission right, an itemized per-unit estimate and delivery to the insurer within 3 business days; an emergency assignment is capped at the greater of $3,000 or 1 percent of Coverage A (s. 627.7152(2)).
A contractor offers to waive or rebate your deductible	Prohibited for contractors, with a fine of up to $10,000 per violation (s. 489.147(2)(b) and (3)).
You signed a roof contract within 180 days of a governor-declared state of emergency	You may cancel within 10 days of signing or by the official start date, whichever is first (s. 489.147(6)).
You want to sue your insurer over a roof claim	A notice of intent must be filed through the Department of Financial Services at least 10 business days before suit (s. 627.70152(3)).

The Short Answer: What HB 7065 + SB 76 Changed

Florida’s AOB reform did not happen in one bill. It happened across at least four major legislative actions over five sessions, plus regulatory follow-on from the Office of Insurance Regulation and the Department of Financial Services. The most important pieces:

Law	Year	What it changed
HB 7065	2019	First major AOB reform. Required written estimates, gave consumers right to rescind, capped attorney fees in some cases.
SB 76	2021	Created s. 489.147: roof-claim solicitation limits, deductible waiver ban, good-faith itemized estimate, 10-day cancellation within 180 days of a declared emergency, contract notices.
HB 837	2023 (March)	Civil litigation reform. Repealed s. 627.428 and s. 626.9373 (one-way attorney fees), cut the negligence statute of limitations to 2 years.
SB 2-A	December 2022 special session	Barred assignment of post-loss benefits under residential and commercial property policies issued on or after January 1, 2023.

Under the old model, a contractor took a homeowner’s assignment, sued the carrier over underpayment and recovered attorney fees under the one-way fee statute. Section 627.7152(10) now limits an assignee’s fee recovery to s. 57.105, and s. 627.428 no longer exists, so that recovery path is closed (statute text).

What AOB Was Originally (and Why It Got Abused)

Assignment of Benefits let a homeowner transfer the right to insurance proceeds to a third party, usually the contractor performing the repair. The contractor dealt with the carrier directly, and before 2023 could recover fees under s. 627.428 if it prevailed in court.

In theory, AOB spared homeowners from managing the claim or fronting payment when the carrier underpaid. HB 7065 (2019) added written-agreement, rescission and pre-suit notice rules aimed at the abuse pattern that emerged:

1. A homeowner reports hail or wind damage.
2. A storm-chasing contractor goes door-to-door and signs the homeowner to a contract that includes an AOB clause.
3. The contractor files a claim against the carrier, often with inflated scope and pricing.
4. The carrier pushes back or underpays.
5. The contractor’s attorney files suit, and under s. 627.428 (repealed in 2023) fees were recoverable from the carrier even if the case settled for a fraction of the demand.
6. The carrier settles to avoid fees that often exceeded the underlying damages.

The result was a flood of AOB litigation. The reforms below were the legislative response.

The 2021 SB 76 Roofing-Specific Changes

SB 76 (ch. 2021-77) wrote the roofing-contract rules now in s. 489.147. It did not create the 10x material cost cap, the 14-day cancellation right or the attorney fee multiplier that earlier versions of this page attributed to it. The verified provisions:

• Solicitation limits. A contractor may not offer a rebate, gift card, cash, coupon or deductible waiver in exchange for a roof inspection or for making a claim, and may not pay or accept a referral fee for services paid by insurance proceeds (s. 489.147(2)(b) and (c)).
• Advertisement warnings. Ads that urge a consumer to make a roof claim must state, in at least 12-point type, that the consumer owes the deductible and that waiving it is third-degree felony insurance fraud (s. 489.147(1)(a)).
• No adjusting without a license. A contractor may not interpret policy coverage or adjust a claim for the insured unless it holds a public adjuster license under part VI of chapter 626 (s. 489.147(2)(d)).
• Good-faith itemized estimate. The repair agreement must come with a good-faith itemized and detailed estimate of services and materials (s. 489.147(2)(e)).
• Penalty. Discipline under s. 489.129 and a fine of up to $10,000 per violation (s. 489.147(3)).

The 180-day, 10-day cancellation window for contracts signed after a declared state of emergency is in s. 489.147(6), and a roof contract that omits the required deductible notice can be voided by the owner within 10 days under s. 489.147(5).

The 2023 HB 837 Sweeping Tort Reform

HB 837 (ch. 2023-15, signed March 27, 2023) was broader civil litigation reform, and its repeal of the one-way fee statutes removed the fee-shifting that the AOB-and-sue model depended on. The key changes in the enrolled act:

HB 837 Provision	Before the act	After the act
One-way attorney fees against insurers	s. 627.428 and s. 626.9373 awarded fees to a prevailing insured	Both sections repealed (sections 10 and 11 of the act)
Comparative negligence	Pure comparative fault	A party more than 50 percent at fault may not recover damages (s. 768.81(6))
Statute of limitations, negligence	4 years	2 years for causes of action accruing after the effective date (s. 95.11)

The repeal (sections 10 and 11 of ch. 2023-15) was the most important change for the AOB model: fee recovery from the carrier no longer follows a small win, so small assignment suits stop paying for themselves.

What’s Still Allowed Under New Rules

Contractors can still work on insured roofs under a direct contract with the homeowner. What remains allowed:

• Direct contract with the homeowner. A contractor can contract directly with the homeowner for roof repair or replacement work and be paid from the homeowner’s insurance proceeds, but the contract cannot assign policy benefits on policies issued on or after January 1, 2023.
• Estimate development and submission. A contractor can prepare a good-faith itemized estimate for the homeowner’s claim (s. 489.147(2)(e)) and send it to the carrier at the homeowner’s direction.
• Field inspection alongside the carrier’s adjuster. A contractor can meet the carrier’s field adjuster on site and walk the roof, but may not interpret coverage or adjust the claim without a license (s. 489.147(2)(d)).
• Supplemental claim documentation. A contractor can document additional damage discovered during the work and submit supplements to the carrier for additional payment.
• Final payment collection from the homeowner. The homeowner remains responsible for paying the contracted amount, with insurance proceeds being one source of those funds.

What is no longer allowed (or is now severely restricted):

• Full assignment of policy benefits to the contractor in lieu of direct payment to the homeowner.
• Acting as a public adjuster (negotiating claim scope and value) without a separate Florida public adjuster license.
• Soliciting work in ways that promise to pay or waive the homeowner’s deductible.
• Door-to-door solicitation tied to a specific weather event without the disclosures and cancellation rights now required.
• Filing suit against the carrier without first issuing a compliant pre-suit notice.

The Pre-Notice Requirement (10 business days before suit)

Section 627.70152 applies to all suits under a residential or commercial property policy. The claimant must file a notice of intent to sue with the Department of Financial Services on its form at least 10 business days before suing, and not before the insurer has made a coverage determination (s. 627.70152(3)).

Notice element	What the statute requires
Filing channel	DFS form; DFS forwards it to the insurer’s designated e-mail address
Acts or omissions	The insurer conduct giving rise to the suit, which may be a denial of coverage
After a denial	An estimate of damages, if known
After other insurer conduct	A presuit settlement demand itemizing damages, attorney fees and costs, plus the disputed amount
Timing	Serving the notice tolls the s. 95.11 limitation period for 10 business days

The notice is a condition precedent to filing suit, so a suit filed without it is open to dismissal. Assignees under pre-2023 agreements follow the parallel 10-business-day notice in s. 627.7152(9), and the insurer must answer within 10 business days with a settlement offer or by requiring appraisal.

Attorney Fee Award Changes (this is the big one)

The one-way attorney fee statute (the previous Florida Statute Section 627.428 framework) had been the structural pillar of AOB litigation economics for decades. Under the pre-reform rule, an insured who prevailed against a carrier in property insurance litigation was entitled to recover their attorney fees from the carrier as a matter of statute. This created an asymmetric incentive: plaintiff attorneys could pursue marginal cases knowing that even a small recovery would trigger fee shifting.

With s. 627.428 repealed by HB 837 and s. 627.7152(10) limiting assignees to s. 57.105, each side generally pays its own attorney fees in property insurance disputes unless a contract term or a narrow statute says otherwise. Disputes are therefore more likely to resolve through documentation, adjuster meetings and policy appraisal than through litigation.

Itemized Estimate Requirements (no 10x cap exists)

Neither SB 76 nor any other Florida statute reviewed for this page sets a 10x material cost cap on a roofing estimate. What the statutes require is an itemized estimate: a good-faith itemized and detailed estimate of services and materials for insurance repairs (s. 489.147(2)(e)), and a written itemized per-unit cost estimate in a pre-2023 assignment agreement (s. 627.7152(2)(a)5). The only dollar cap in the assignment statute is the emergency-work limit of the greater of $3,000 or 1 percent of the Coverage A limit (s. 627.7152(2)(c)).

A 10x figure seen elsewhere has no support in s. 489.147 or s. 627.7152; an earlier version of this page repeated it without a citation, and it has been removed.

Cancellation Rights for Homeowners

Florida has three separate roofing cancellation or rescission rules, and none is a blanket 14-day right to cancel any residential roofing contract:

• Post-emergency contracts. A 10-day cancellation right (or until the official start date, whichever is first) applies when the contract is signed within 180 days of a governor-declared state of emergency covering the property’s area (s. 489.147(6)).
• Missing deductible notice. If the contract lacks the notice that the contractor may not offer rebates or deductible waivers, the owner may void it within 10 days (s. 489.147(5)).
• Assignment agreements (policies issued before 2023). The assignor can rescind without penalty within 14 days of signing, or at least 30 days before scheduled work starts if the assignee has not substantially performed (s. 627.7152(2)(a)3).

For contractors, post-storm door-to-door sales carry a built-in 10-day cancellation exposure, plus a mandatory insurer-contact notice in the signature block under s. 489.147(7).

Direct Repair Path vs AOB Path

Under the current regulatory regime, the dominant compliant workflow is the direct repair path. The structure differs meaningfully from the old AOB model:

Step	Old AOB path	Current direct repair path
Initial contract	Homeowner signs contract with AOB clause; benefits assigned to contractor	Homeowner signs direct contract with contractor for repair; no benefit assignment
Claim filing	Contractor (as assignee) files claim with carrier	Homeowner files claim with carrier; contractor provides documentation
Adjuster engagement	Contractor meets adjuster on site as the assignee	Contractor attends as homeowner’s representative under authority of homeowner
Scope negotiation	Contractor negotiates scope and price directly with carrier	Homeowner negotiates (with contractor input); a contractor needs a public adjuster license to adjust the claim (s. 489.147(2)(d))
Payment path	Carrier pays contractor directly under the AOB	Carrier pays homeowner; homeowner pays contractor
Dispute resolution	Contractor sues carrier with attorney fee shifting	DFS notice of intent required (s. 627.70152); one-way fee statute repealed; policy appraisal is a common path

The direct repair path needs more coordination between homeowner, contractor and carrier, but it is the structure left open once s. 627.7152(13) voids assignments on policies issued from January 1, 2023. Read our insurance claim filing guide for the homeowner-side workflow.

Storm Restoration Operator Implications

Contractors whose revenue depended on assignments lost the statutory mechanism for policies issued on or after January 1, 2023. The paths left are a direct contract priced against the carrier’s scope, an affiliation with a licensed public adjuster (a contractor cannot adjust the claim itself under s. 489.147(2)(d)), or non-claim reroofing work. Operators entering Florida should start with licensing; our Florida licensing guide covers the prerequisites.

Homeowner Practical Guide: When AOB Still Makes Sense

For policies issued on or after January 1, 2023, an assignment of post-loss benefits is void under s. 627.7152(13), so the practical question is how to authorize a contractor to document the claim without assigning it. A power of attorney under chapter 709 to a family member or similar person is carved out of the statute (s. 627.7152(11)(b)).

Situations where it can still make practical sense to authorize a contractor to deal with the carrier (with proper licensing and disclosures):

• The homeowner is elderly, out of state, or otherwise unable to manage the claim process. A public adjuster licensed under part VI of chapter 626 (not just the contractor) should be involved, because s. 489.147(2)(d) bars contractors from adjusting.
• The claim is complex with significant scope dispute that requires professional adjuster negotiation. A licensed public adjuster is the lawful route for scope negotiation under s. 489.147(2)(d).
• The contractor will wait for payment from your claim proceeds under a written direct contract that does not assign benefits.

Situations where the homeowner should be wary of any AOB-style arrangement:

• The contractor is unwilling to put the contract terms in writing in detail.
• The contractor offers to “handle everything” without being a licensed public adjuster.
• The contractor offers to waive or rebate the deductible.
• The contractor pushes the homeowner to sign immediately after a storm without time to consider alternatives.

Contractor Liability Under New Rules

Statutory exposure for contractors is set by s. 489.147: discipline under s. 489.129 and fines up to $10,000 per violation, and an unlicensed person who violates it is guilty of unlicensed contracting. The specific exposures:

• Unlicensed public adjusting. Interpreting policy provisions or adjusting a claim for an insured without a public adjuster license (s. 489.147(2)(d)).
• Deductible rebates. Offering a waiver of any insurance deductible in exchange for an inspection or a claim (s. 489.147(2)(b)); knowingly paying or waiving a deductible with intent to defraud is a third-degree felony per the required ad warning.
• Missing notices. Omitting the deductible notice lets the owner void the contract within 10 days (s. 489.147(5)).
• Agents’ acts. The acts of a compensated employee or solicitor count as the contractor’s acts (s. 489.147(4)(a)).

Carrier Claim Handling Differences (Citizens vs Private)

Section 627.7152(5) preserves any managed repair arrangement written into the policy, so a carrier can route repairs to its own contractors regardless of the assignment rules. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation publishes its policy forms and claim procedures, and the Office of Insurance Regulation at floir.gov publishes carrier rate filings; check the managed repair wording in your policy before choosing a contractor.

Lawsuits Filed Under Old Rules vs New Rules

Assignments made under policies issued July 1, 2019 through December 31, 2022 still follow the s. 627.7152(2) agreement rules, and the s. 627.7152(13) bar applies only to policies issued on or after January 1, 2023. Open pre-2023 assignment cases proceed under the earlier framework, while a new policy has no assignment right at all.

The statutes cited on this page change by session; check the current text of s. 627.7152, s. 627.70152 and s. 489.147 at leg.state.fl.us before relying on a deadline.