Florida roofing marketing that keeps selling inspections between hurricanes

If a piece of marketing nudges a homeowner toward a roof claim, Florida decides what it must print. Leave out three set statements and the piece becomes a banned ad.

The rule sits in Florida's roofing claim law. It reaches "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." Without the three statements, the law calls that piece a "prohibited advertisement." The statements must appear "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 law names door hangers, business cards and magnets. It also names flyers, pamphlets and e-mails, and says the list 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 one person. The law bars "Soliciting a residential property owner by means of a prohibited advertisement." Soliciting means contact "In person," "By delivery to a specific person," or by electronic means "directed to a specific person." A door hanger or a knock is that contact. So is a text, an email or a direct message to one homeowner. The text does not settle whether a broadcast Facebook or search ad solicits anyone in that sense. Carrying the statements there too is the cautious course. We found no guidance on how the half-size rule works where there is no fixed type size.
• Canvassers speak for the company. Under the same law, what anyone does on your behalf counts as your own act. That includes a paid employee and a non-employee paid to solicit. The door knocker's script is your advertisement.

Copy that sells the inspection, the photographs and the written report is a different matter. As long as it does not urge anyone to file, it falls outside the definition as written, in our reading.

On newer policies, a homeowner can no longer sign the insurance payout over to the roofer. So the homeowner pays you, and their deductible and cash flow are now part of the sale.

The change covers residential and commercial policies issued on or after January 1, 2023. On those, the owner cannot assign post-loss benefits. Florida's assignment law makes any attempt "void, invalid, and unenforceable." Narrow exceptions remain, such as an assignment to a later buyer of the home. Four more rules shape the offer and the contract:

• A separate roof deductible. Lawmakers allowed insurers to add one in the May 2022 special session. Under Florida's deductible law, it "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 or a total loss. Nor does it apply when a tree or other hazard punctures the deck, or to a repair of less than half the roof.
• The holdback. When that deductible applies, the insurer may pay only actual cash value for the roof. That lasts until it has reasonable proof the owner paid the deductible. Under the roof deductible holdback law, "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. It is 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, the owner's signature page needs 14-point bold language. It tells 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 law 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 ban on gifts for inspections and claims, or the owner may void it within 10 days. A residential contract above $2,500 also carries the Florida Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund notice, under the recovery fund law.

Selling at the kitchen table adds a cooling-off period. A sale above $25 closed at the home is a home solicitation sale under Florida's home sales law. A sale that follows the owner's own request for specific goods or services is outside that definition.

That contract carries a caption reading "BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL." The deadline to cancel is midnight on the third business day, with Sundays and federal holidays not counted, under the cancellation rule.

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

Between storms, your inspection work comes from insurance renewals and new policies. Homeowners search for whatever inspection their insurer asks for, and four sets of rules decide which one that is:

• 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 need documentation of at least five years of remaining useful life. So do tile, slate and clay roofs older than 50 years, and concrete or metal roofs past that same line. With less than five years left, the owner must prove a full replacement before a policy is written.
• The quarter-roof rule, amended. A big repair can force a whole new roof on an older home. Roofs built to the 2007 code or later escape most of that. Citizens' roof damage job aid quotes the 2020 (7th edition) Florida Building Code this way: repair, replacement or recovering is limited to 25 percent of a roof or roof section in any 12 months. Past that, the whole roofing system or section is replaced. A 2022 law, SB 4-D, made the change. A roof built, repaired or replaced to the 2007 Florida Building Code or later now 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. So ask for the permit date rather than promising a whole roof. Promising one also edges into coverage advice. Reread this line when the ninth edition takes effect on December 31, 2026.
• Who signs which form. A roofing license can sign one insurance inspection but not always the other. Roofing contractors are on the list of inspectors an insurer may approve for the 15-year roof inspection, under the roof-age law. The wind mitigation form is different. The mitigation form law names trained home inspectors and building code inspectors. It names general, building and residential contractors, and it names 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. A state program pays for some roof upgrades, but no roofer can promise the money. Under the program's law, it funds roof-to-wall connections and stronger deck attachment. It also funds secondary water resistance with a new covering. My Safe Florida Home covers homesteaded homes built before 2008 with an insured value of $700,000 or less. The owners must be 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 different things to type into a search. Each deserves its own landing page rather than one "roof inspection" page:

• "Four-point inspection," for Citizens' 20-year line
• A roof inspection showing remaining useful life, for the 25- and 50-year lines
• "15-year roof inspection," where the page explains who may sign it
• "Wind mitigation inspection," only where an insurer accepts your signature

A reroof also carries code-required mitigation, including secondary water barriers and corrected deck fasteners, under Florida's roof mitigation law. A quote can explain each of those line by line.

Where your crews work changes what your pages and ads should lead with. Eight Florida hurricane landfalls show what each coast asks for.

Seven come from National Hurricane Center storm reports, and Isaias from its advisories. All eight came ashore between August 5 and November 10.

• Western Panhandle. Michael came ashore as a category 5 near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base on October 10, 2018. 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. Their call windows and storm ads run under the rules above while the order stands. Their roof contracts carry the 180-day right into April 2027.
• Big Bend. This coast took three landfalls in 13 months. Idalia came ashore near Keaton Beach on August 30, 2023. Debby followed west of Steinhatchee on August 5, 2024. Helene hit southwest of Perry late on September 26, 2024. It was the strongest Big Bend landfall since reliable records began around 1900. Taylor and Dixie are on the Isaias order as well. 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. The NHC calls it the costliest hurricane in Florida's history. Lee County is also 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. It brought 45 known tornadoes on land across the southern and central peninsula. Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco are on the Isaias order, although that 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. 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 make up the code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, as the Florida Building Commission overview shows. Roofing products there carry Miami-Dade Notices of Acceptance written for that zone. An NOA's number may appear in an ad only "preceded by the words Miami-Dade County, Florida, and followed by the expiration date." Using it "as an endorsement of any product, for sales, advertising or any other purposes" ends the approval, as a current roofing NOA states. 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. Pages for these two counties should too.

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