Florida roofing marketing that keeps selling inspections between hurricanes

Florida's roofing claim statute, 489.147, turns on one definition. A "prohibited advertisement" is "any written or electronic communication by a contractor which encourages, instructs, or induces a consumer to contact a contractor or public adjuster for the purpose of making an insurance claim for roof damage" that leaves out three statements, printed "in a font size of at least 12 points and at least half as large as the largest font size used in the communication." Word for word, the three are:

• "The consumer is responsible for payment of any insurance deductible;"
• "It is insurance fraud punishable as a felony of the third degree for a contractor to knowingly or willfully, and with intent to injure, defraud, or deceive, pay, waive, or rebate all or part of an insurance deductible applicable to payment to the contractor for repairs to a property covered by a property insurance policy; and"
• "It is insurance fraud punishable as a felony of the third degree to intentionally file an insurance claim containing any false, incomplete, or misleading information."

The statute lists "door hangers, business cards, magnets, flyers, pamphlets, and e-mails" and says the term is not limited to them. Three things follow when we lay out a piece:

• The statements are not fine print. A door hanger with a 48-point headline needs them at 24-point or larger, so the design starts from the disclosure block, not the bottom inch.
• The ban is on soliciting. Paragraph (2)(a) bars "Soliciting a residential property owner by means of a prohibited advertisement," and (1)(c) defines soliciting as contacting "In person," "By electronic means, including, but not limited to, e-mail, telephone, and any other real-time communication directed to a specific person," or "By delivery to a specific person." A door hanger, a knock, a text, an email or a direct message to one homeowner is that contact. Whether a broadcast Facebook or search ad solicits anyone in that sense is not settled by the text; carrying the statements there too is the cautious course. How the half-size rule applies where there is no fixed type size is something we found no guidance on.
• Canvassers speak for the company. Under 489.147(4)(a), "The acts of any person on behalf of a contractor, including, but not limited to, the acts of a compensated employee or a nonemployee who is compensated for soliciting, shall be considered the actions of the contractor." The door knocker's script is your advertisement.

Copy that sells the inspection, the photographs and the written report without urging anyone to file falls outside the definition as written, in our reading.

A homeowner whose residential or commercial policy was issued on or after January 1, 2023 cannot assign post-loss benefits, and 627.7152(13) makes any attempt "void, invalid, and unenforceable," with narrow exceptions in (11) such as an assignment to a later buyer of the home. The roofer is paid by the homeowner, so the homeowner's deductible and cash flow are now part of the sale:

• A separate roof deductible. Since the May 2022 special session (SB 2-D), 627.701(10) lets an insurer add one that "may not exceed the lesser of 2 percent of the Coverage A limit of the policy or 50 percent of the cost to replace the roof." It does not apply to a hurricane loss, a total loss, a tree or other hazard that punctures the deck, or a repair to less than half the roof.
• The holdback. When that deductible applies, 627.7011(3)(a) lets the insurer pay actual cash value for the roof until it has reasonable proof the owner paid the deductible, and "an executed installment plan contract or other financing arrangement that requires full payment of the deductible over time" counts as proof. That is the Florida reason financing belongs in roof ads, and one more reason no ad hints at waiving the deductible. Write it to the federal financing-ad rules on our roofing page.
• The signature page. Since HB 715 took effect on May 19, 2025, 489.147(7) requires 14-point bold language on the owner's signature page advising them to "contact your insurance company to verify coverage for the proposed roofing work, including any claims, deductibles, and policy terms, before signing this contract." The statute frames that advice for work "related to an insurance claim", so on an insurance-claim page, telling owners there is no need to call the insurer contradicts your own contract.
• The other notices. The contract must state the (2)(b) prohibition or the owner may void it within 10 days (489.147(5)). A residential contract above $2,500 carries the Florida Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund notice under 489.1425.
• Sales made at the house. A sale above $25 closed at the home is a home solicitation sale under 501.021, with a "BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL" caption (501.031) and a deadline of midnight on the third business day, Sundays and federal holidays excluded (501.025). A sale that follows the owner's own request for specific goods or services is outside the definition.

What is left to advertise honestly is the inspection, the documentation and a start date. The roofing start-up guide covers deposits and licensing.

Outside a storm order, a Florida roofer's inspections come from underwriting, and four sets of rules decide what the homeowner is searching for:

• Citizens' age lines. Citizens Property Insurance requires a four-point inspection on new applications for homes more than 20 years old. Shingle roofs older than 25 years, and tile, slate, clay, concrete or metal roofs older than 50, need documentation of at least five years of remaining useful life, and with less than five years left the owner must prove a full replacement before a policy is written.
• The quarter-roof rule, amended. The 2020 (7th edition) Florida Building Code, as Citizens' roof damage job aid quotes it, limits repair, replacement or recovering to 25 percent of a roof or roof section in any 12 months unless the whole roofing system or section is replaced. Since SB 4-D in 2022, 553.844(5) says a roof built, repaired or replaced to the 2007 Florida Building Code or later needs only the repaired part brought to current code, and no local ordinance may amend that. The job aid reads it as any single-family roof with a permit application dated March 1, 2009 or later. Ask for the permit date rather than promising a whole roof, which also edges into coverage advice, and reread this line when the ninth edition takes effect on December 31, 2026.
• Who signs which form. Roofing contractors are on the list of inspectors an insurer may approve for the 15-year roof inspection (627.7011(5)). The wind mitigation form is different: 627.711(2)(a) names trained home inspectors, building code inspectors, general, building and residential contractors, engineers and architects, plus anyone the insurer recognizes. A roofing-only license should not advertise discount-form inspections unless an insurer accepts its signature.
• My Safe Florida Home. Under 215.5586, the state program funds roof-to-wall connections, stronger deck attachment, and secondary water resistance with a new covering, for homesteaded homes built before 2008 with an insured value of $700,000 or less and owned by low- or moderate-income applicants. The application names the contractor's state license number, which the program verifies. A roofer cannot promise anyone a grant; check the program site for whether it is taking applications and have the number ready.

Those rules give a Florida homeowner four names to type, and each deserves its own landing page rather than one "roof inspection" page: "four-point inspection" (Citizens' 20-year line), a roof inspection showing remaining useful life (the 25- and 50-year lines), "15-year roof inspection" (who may sign it) and "wind mitigation inspection" (only where an insurer accepts your signature). A reroof also carries code-required mitigation, secondary water barriers and corrected deck fasteners among it (553.844), which a quote can explain line by line.

The eight Florida hurricane landfalls below, seven from National Hurricane Center storm reports and Isaias from its advisories, all came between August 5 and November 10, and each coast asks something different of a roofer's pages and ads:

• Western Panhandle. Michael came ashore as a category 5 near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base on October 10, 2018, and Isaias reached the western end of the same coast on October 9, 2026. Escambia, Okaloosa and Bay sit on Central time and on the Isaias order, so their call windows and storm ads run under the rules above while the order stands, and their roof contracts carry the 180-day right into April 2027.
• Big Bend. Idalia near Keaton Beach on August 30, 2023, Debby west of Steinhatchee on August 5, 2024, and Helene southwest of Perry late on September 26, 2024, the strongest Big Bend landfall since reliable records began around 1900: three landfalls on one coast in 13 months. Taylor and Dixie are on the Isaias order as well, so a campaign there this fall runs under the emergency rules from the first door hanger to the last contract.
• Southwest coast. Ian made landfall on Cayo Costa on September 28, 2022, and the NHC calls it the costliest hurricane in Florida's history. Lee County is where DBPR ran its undercover operation, so a page aimed there puts the license number in the ad text and the first lines of the site, not only the footer.
• Sarasota and Tampa Bay. Milton hit Siesta Key on the evening of October 9, 2024, with 45 known tornadoes on land across the southern and central peninsula. Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco are on the Isaias order although the storm came ashore in the western Panhandle, so a Tampa Bay roofer is under the emergency rules now; Sarasota County is not on the list.
• Orlando and Jacksonville. Nicole made landfall at Vero Beach on November 10, 2022, and crossed the peninsula between Orlando and Tampa. Orange and Duval counties are not on the Isaias order, and none of these landfalls came ashore on the northeast coast, so pages for Orlando and Jacksonville lead with roof age and the Citizens lines rather than storm repair.
• Southeast. Miami-Dade and Broward are the code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (Florida Building Commission overview), and roofing products there carry Miami-Dade Notices of Acceptance written for that zone. An NOA lets its number appear in advertising only "preceded by the words Miami-Dade County, Florida, and followed by the expiration date," and misuse "as an endorsement of any product, for sales, advertising or any other purposes" terminates it (a current roofing NOA), so a quote cites the number in that form and never as a seal of approval. The state's mitigation program publishes in Spanish and Haitian Creole as well as English, and pages for these two counties should too.

The NHC's 2025 reports record no Florida landfall, and Isaias followed in October 2026, so one quiet season predicts nothing about the next. Most Florida counties are off the Isaias order even now, and in them the roof-age work above carries the company, which is why we build it before June rather than after a storm.