Is Your Roof Too Old for Florida Insurance? What the Rule Says in 2026
If your carrier is asking about the age of your roof, you have probably run into headlines about a new Florida law that took effect on July 1. That law never passed. Here is what actually protects your policy, and where that protection stops.
If your roof is getting older and you have been reading up on where you stand with your insurer, there is a good chance you landed on a page telling you that a new Florida law expanding roof-age protections took effect on July 1, 2026. Some of those pages belong to law firms. Others belong to roofing companies and claims-service businesses. The date they all point to was real, but it was a proposed effective date written into bills that never passed.
A proposed effective date and a law taking effect are two very different things, and the gap between them is where a lot of Florida property owners are currently getting bad information about their own coverage. The legislative record is public, it takes about four minutes to check, and it says something simple: the roof-age bills filed for the 2026 session are dead.
JA Edwards of America is a licensed roofing and general contractor, not a law firm, a public adjuster, or an insurance agency. Nothing here is legal advice, insurance advice, or a claims recommendation, and reading it does not create any professional relationship.
Everything below is a plain summary of publicly available legislative records and statute text, with links so you can read the originals yourself. For advice about your specific policy, situation, or claim, talk to your insurance agent, your carrier, or a licensed Florida attorney.
The New Roof Law You Read About Never Happened
Three bills filed for the 2026 Florida legislative session would have changed how insurers treat roof age. All three carried a proposed effective date of July 1, 2026. None of them made it out of their first committee, and none of them became law. The current rule governing roof age and property insurance is the same rule that was in place before the session started.
That distinction matters because the advice changes completely depending on which version you believe. If you think a broader protection kicked in this summer, you might assume your rental property or your association's building is now covered by the same roof-age rule that protects a single-family homeowner. It is not.
The Three Bills That Died in March
The Florida Senate publishes a bill history page for every filed bill, including the date and committee where a bill stops moving. Here is what those pages show for the three roof-age bills, exactly as recorded.
HB 815
Filed December 18, 2025 by Representatives Gottlieb and Daley, with Campbell as co-introducer. Proposed effective date July 1, 2026. Last action March 13, 2026: died in the Insurance & Banking Subcommittee. No committee analysis and no vote history were published.
SB 808
The identical Senate companion, filed by Senator Simon. Same proposed effective date. Last action March 13, 2026: died in the Banking and Insurance Committee.
SB 128
Filed October 7, 2025 by Senator Bracy Davis, with Smith as co-introducer. It would have required insurers to reimburse a homeowner up to $300 for a qualifying roof inspection. Introduced January 13, 2026. Last action March 13, 2026: died in the Banking and Insurance Committee.
The record shows when and where each bill stopped, and that is all it shows. Neither chamber published a committee vote or an analysis explaining the outcome for HB 815, so anyone telling you why these bills died is filling in a blank the public record does not fill. What can be said accurately is that all three are dead, none of them became law, and any future change to these rules would require new legislation in a future session.
What Almost Changed, and What It Would Have Meant
It is worth understanding what was on the table, because the proposals point directly at the gaps in the law that still exist today.
HB 815 and SB 808 would have extended the roof-age protection beyond homeowners' policies to property insurance policies insuring residential structures more broadly. That reach would have covered categories currently sitting outside the rule, including condominium association master policies, landlord policies, and apartment-building coverage. The bills would also have drawn a distinction between low-slope and steep-slope roofs in how coverage is offered, and would have widened the set of professionals who could serve as an authorized inspector.
SB 128 took a narrower swing at a practical problem. Under current law an inspection to establish remaining useful life is paid for by the property owner. SB 128 would have required the insurer to reimburse up to $300 when the inspection came back showing five or more years of useful life remaining, and would have required insurers to notify homeowners of the right to that inspection at issuance and renewal.
None of that is law. The inspection is still the property owner's expense, the notice requirement was never enacted, and the categories of policy outside the rule are still outside it.
What the Rule Actually Says About Your Roof
The operative language sits in subsection (5) of Florida Statute 627.7011. It has applied to homeowners' insurance policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2022, and it was last amended in 2024. If your roof is aging and you are worried about renewal, this is the text that governs your situation.
The 15-year line
An insurer may not refuse to issue or refuse to renew a homeowner's policy insuring a residential structure with a roof less than 15 years old solely because of the age of the roof. The operative word is solely. The statute is explicit that it does not limit an insurer's ability to decline or nonrenew based on other underwriting criteria or for other lawful reasons, so a roof under 15 years old is not a shield against every possible nonrenewal.
The five-year useful-life exception
For a roof that is at least 15 years old, the insurer must allow the property owner to have a roof inspection performed by an authorized inspector, at the owner's expense, before requiring roof replacement as a condition of issuing or renewing the policy. If that inspection indicates the roof has five years or more of useful life remaining, the insurer may not refuse to issue or renew solely because of roof age.
How the age of a roof is calculated
This part trips people up more than anything else in the statute. Roof age is calculated using the last date on which 100 percent of the roof's surface area was built or replaced under the building code in effect at that time. If the roof was replaced in sections, the clock starts at the initial date of the partial replacement in the sequence that ended up covering 100 percent of the surface. A repair to one slope three years ago does not reset the age of the whole roof, which is why documentation of what was actually replaced and when tends to matter a great deal at renewal time.
If you are trying to work out where your own roof falls on that timeline, a contractor can inspect the roof and document its current condition. You can request a roof inspection from our team in any of our Florida service areas.
Who Qualifies as an Authorized Inspector
The statute defines the term and lists the categories. An authorized inspector is an inspector approved by the insurer who is a licensed home inspector, a certified building code inspector, a licensed general, building, or residential contractor, a roofing contractor, a licensed professional engineer, a licensed professional architect, or any other individual or entity the insurer recognizes as qualified to complete a general inspection of an insured residential structure.
Why insurer approval still matters
Read that definition carefully and you will notice it has two halves. The professional has to fall into one of the listed categories, and the inspector has to be approved by the insurer. A great many articles quote the list of categories and quietly skip the approval requirement, which leaves readers with the impression that any licensed roofer's report automatically satisfies the statute. It does not.
In practical terms this means the sequence runs in the other direction from what most people assume. Before you commission an inspection you intend to use for insurance purposes, ask your carrier or agent which inspectors it approves, what form of report it accepts, and what documentation it wants attached. A thorough report from a qualified contractor is a strong document to have either way, but whether a specific carrier will accept a specific inspector is the carrier's call, not the contractor's.
Whose Roof This Rule Does Not Protect
This is the gap HB 815 and SB 808 aimed at, and it is still open. Section 627.7011 states that it does not apply to policies that are not considered homeowners' policies as that term is commonly understood in the insurance industry, and it does not apply to mobile home policies.
| Policy type | Status under the current statute |
|---|---|
| Standard homeowners' policy on a residential structure | Covered by the roof-age rule in subsection (5) |
| Mobile home policies | Expressly excluded by the statute |
| Condominium association master policies | Not a homeowners' policy. HB 815 and SB 808 would have added this category |
| Landlord and apartment-building coverage | Generally commercial-lines residential. HB 815 and SB 808 would have added these |
| Individual condo-unit owner policies | Depends on how the policy is classified. Confirm your policy type with your agent or carrier |
That last row is the one to be careful with. A policy held by an individual condo-unit owner may be classified differently from an association's master policy, and the classification is what determines whether the roof-age rule reaches it. If you own a unit and you are trying to work out where you stand, the answer comes from your policy documents and your agent, not from a blog post.
What to Do Before Your Next Renewal
A below-normal hurricane forecast does not slow down renewal cycles. Underwriting decisions, roof-age reviews, and documentation requests run all year, and the useful window to deal with them is well before the renewal notice shows up.
Pin down the real age
Find the permit and the final inspection record for the last full roof replacement. That date, not the date of a repair, is what the statute uses.
Ask the carrier first
Before commissioning anything, ask which inspectors your carrier approves and what report format it accepts. The approval requirement is part of the statute.
Document condition now
A dated, photo-supported condition report is useful whether or not it ends up serving an insurance purpose, and it is far easier to obtain outside of storm season.
Know what the rule does not do
The roof-age protection is narrow. It does not prevent nonrenewal on other lawful underwriting grounds, and it does not reach every policy type.
Where a roof genuinely has reached the end of its service life, the conversation shifts from documentation to planning, and the sooner that starts the more control you have over timing and material choice. Our team can walk you through what a full roof replacement involves before anything becomes urgent.
Worried About Your Roof's Age Before Renewal?
JA Edwards of America is a licensed Florida roofing contractor (CCC1334804) and certified general contractor (CGC1534283), and we provide roof inspections with written, photo-supported condition documentation. Before relying on any inspection for an insurance purpose, confirm with your carrier which inspector, report format, and documentation it will accept.
Schedule a Roof InspectionFrequently Asked Questions
Did a new Florida roof insurance law take effect on July 1, 2026?
No. HB 815, SB 808, and SB 128 each carried a proposed effective date of July 1, 2026, but all three died in committee on March 13, 2026 and none became law. July 1, 2026 was a date written into bills that did not pass, not the date a law took effect.
Can a Florida insurer drop my policy because of roof age?
Under Florida Statute 627.7011(5), an insurer may not refuse to issue or renew a homeowner's policy solely because of roof age when the roof is less than 15 years old. The statute also states that it does not limit an insurer's ability to decline or nonrenew based on other underwriting criteria or other lawful reasons, so roof age is only one factor among several.
What happens when my roof turns 15?
For a roof at least 15 years old, the insurer must allow you to have a roof inspection performed by an authorized inspector, at your own expense, before requiring replacement as a condition of issuing or renewing the policy. If the inspection indicates five or more years of useful life remaining, the insurer may not refuse to issue or renew solely because of roof age.
Does the insurer have to pay for the roof inspection?
Not under current law. The statute places the inspection at the property owner's expense. SB 128 would have required reimbursement of up to $300 when the inspection showed five or more years of remaining useful life, but that bill died in committee and never became law.
Can any licensed roofer perform the inspection?
The statute lists roofing contractors among the categories that can serve as an authorized inspector, but it also requires the inspector to be approved by the insurer. Both parts apply. Ask your carrier which inspectors it approves and what report it accepts before commissioning an inspection you intend to use for insurance purposes.
Does the roof-age rule apply to condominiums and rental properties?
Section 627.7011 applies to homeowners' policies and expressly does not apply to mobile home policies or to policies that are not considered homeowners' policies. Condominium association master policies, landlord policies, and apartment-building coverage generally sit outside it, and those were among the categories HB 815 and SB 808 would have added. An individual condo-unit owner's policy may be classified differently, so confirm your policy type with your agent or carrier.
How is the age of my roof calculated?
By the last date on which 100 percent of the roof's surface area was built or replaced under the building code in effect at that time. Where partial replacements were done in sequence until 100 percent of the surface was covered, the initial date of that sequence is used. A repair to part of the roof does not reset the age of the whole roof.
Primary Sources
- Florida Statute 627.7011, The Florida Senate
- HB 815 (2026) bill history, The Florida Senate
- SB 808 (2026) bill history, The Florida Senate
- SB 128 (2026) bill history, The Florida Senate
Important Notice
JA Edwards of America is a licensed roofing contractor (CCC1334804) and certified general contractor (CGC1534283). We are not a law firm, an insurance agency, a public adjuster, or a claims representative, and we do not provide legal advice, insurance advice, or claims representation.
This article summarizes publicly available legislative records and statute text as of July 30, 2026, and is provided for general information only. It is not a substitute for reading the statute itself, reviewing your own policy, or speaking with a qualified professional. Statutes and insurer practices change. Legislative status can change in any future session. For guidance on your specific policy, property, or claim, consult your insurance agent, your carrier, or a licensed Florida attorney.
Reading this article does not create any professional, contractual, or advisory relationship between you and JA Edwards of America.