Why Document All Your Isaias Damage Before You File the Claim?

On October 9, 2026, Hurricane Isaias struck the Florida Panhandle near Destin with 105 mph sustained winds. Walton, Okaloosa, Bay, Santa Rosa, and Escambia counties took the hit. Roofs were torn open, siding was stripped, commercial buildings were battered, and hundreds of thousands lost power.

The reason to document first is simple. The first scope written on your property sets the starting number for everything that follows. If that scope comes from a fast carrier walk through, it starts low and stays low. If it comes from a full inspection that records every damaged slope, seam, and water path, the claim starts from the damage itself. Paper wins these claims. The side with the better record usually sets the terms.

If your insurance company is stalling, denying, or lowballing your Isaias claim, you are not alone.

68,071 Isaias claims were filed statewide, and 14,402 have already closed without a payment.

25,211 closed with a payment, and 28,458 were still open in the state count of November 6, 2026.

Hundreds of millions recovered for Florida policyholders over 17 years. We work for you, not the insurance company.

What we do on an Isaias claim, step by step

  1. We start with a free claim review. Send us the estimate your carrier sent you. We read it line by line and tell you plainly what it covers and what it leaves out. If no estimate exists yet, we start with the free inspection below.
  2. We inspect the property. Our 21 point storm inspection covers the roof system slope by slope, the flashing and penetrations, the soffit and fascia, windows and doors, and the ceilings and walls where water traveled. We take the photos and measurements while the damage is still there to record.
  3. We walk the findings with you. You see what we found, what the carrier’s scope missed, and what your policy should pay for. No numbers get promised before the record exists.
  4. You decide on the agreement. If you hire us, the full estimate and claim package get built from the documented record. Clients who sign a letter of representation get their estimate package built inside 60 days.
  5. We present and work the claim. We send the package to the carrier, answer its reviewers, and negotiate from the documentation. Closed files get reopened and thin files get supplemented inside the deadlines when the record supports it.
  6. We stay to the end. If the carrier will not pay what the policy owes, we tell you your next options in plain language and keep working the file you hired us to work.

The deadlines we work against

  • Report your loss by October 9, 2027
  • Reopen or supplement your claim by April 9, 2028
  • The outside date PAG tracks for suit is October 9, 2031

A claim that closed without payment is not always a finished claim. Documented damage found inside these dates can reopen or supplement a closed file. The calendar, not the carrier’s first answer, decides how long your claim lives.

Who should call

  • Your claim closed without a payment and the damage is still there.
  • Your carrier’s estimate came in far below every contractor quote you hold.
  • You received a denial letter and do not know what it actually decided.
  • Damage is still surfacing, weeks after the storm.
  • You sit on a condo or HOA board with one master claim for the whole building.
  • You own a commercial building, a rental, or a second home you could not inspect yourself.

What the work has recovered

The gap in these claims is usually the scope, not the storm. On one Florida claim, the carrier’s estimate was $6,079 and the recovery was $274,450. On another, the carrier’s estimate was $3,548 and the recovery was $129,829. On a third, the carrier’s estimate was $17,210 and the recovery was $258,587. Every one of those files started with an owner holding a number that did not match the damage.

What it costs

For residential claims, Florida caps the fee at 10% during the first year after a state of emergency declaration. And 10% of nothing is nothing. Without representation, many homeowners walk away with far less or nothing at all. For commercial claims, our fee is a percentage of what we recover for you. If we recover nothing, you pay nothing.

Your story is evidence too

Voices of Policyholders collects real claim stories from Florida policyholders and puts them in front of lawmakers, regulators, and the media. You can share your story on their site or by calling 844-848-6423.

Your town, your page

Guides for Isaias claims

Start with the free inspection

Free 21-point storm inspection. We document everything before you file, and we tell you plainly where you stand. The inspection is free, and there is no obligation to hire us afterward.

Call 800.511.2240 for your free claim review, or start here: https://policyholderadvocacygroup.com/free-hurricane-inspection/