1. Someone knocks on your door the week after a storm
Post-disaster door-knocking is the classic opening. There is nothing automatically illegal about it — but a public adjuster may only solicit Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm, and may not offer you a loan, an advance, or a gift worth more than $25 to get you to sign. An unlicensed person doing the same thing is committing a crime.
Authority: § 626.854(5), (9), (10), Florida Statutes
2. They talk about your fee before they show you a contract
A public adjuster cannot collect a fee on your claim payments without a written contract with you. If a fee number is being discussed before there is paperwork in front of you, that is the wrong order of operations — and there is no contract for you to cancel.
Authority: § 626.854(6)(a), Florida Statutes
3. There is no cancellation notice in 18-point bold type
Your contract must carry a cancellation notice in at least 18-point bold type, immediately before your signature. You can cancel without penalty within 10 days; for a claim arising from a Governor-declared emergency you get 30 days from the date of loss or 10 days from signing, whichever is longer. No notice, no clean deal.
Authority: § 626.854(7), Florida Statutes
4. They offer to waive your deductible, or a gift to inspect your roof
Offering a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon or deductible waiver in exchange for letting someone inspect your roof or make a roof claim is prohibited — and so is paying anyone for referring roofing work. Fines run to $10,000 per act, or $20,000 during a declared emergency. A "free roof" is usually neither free nor a roof.
Authority: § 626.854(23), Florida Statutes
5. A contractor offers to "handle your claim for you"
Only a licensed public adjuster, or an attorney, may prepare, negotiate or settle a claim for money. A contractor may tell you to call your insurer, and may discuss their own bid — but if they are running your claim, they are breaking the law. Ask for the licence number, then check it.
Authority: § 626.854(1), (16), (20), Florida Statutes
6. You are asked to sign an AOB or a "direction to pay"
An assignment of benefits hands your rights under the policy to a third party, usually a contractor or restoration firm. It is a sale of your claim dressed as a convenience. Read it as such, and get advice before you sign.
Authority: §§ 627.7152 and 627.7153, Florida Statutes
7. They cannot show you a licence, or the number does not check out
Every public adjuster, contractor and engineer is searchable in a state register in under a minute, and an insurer's adjuster must give you their name and state licence number when they inspect or discuss your claim. If the number cannot be verified, stop.
Authority: § 627.70131(3)(b), Florida Statutes
8. They promise a specific settlement, or say there is "no risk"
Saying a claim carries "no risk", inviting you to claim when you have no covered damage, or implying that a government agency endorses the solicitation are each defined by statute as deceptive or misleading advertising.
Authority: § 626.854(8), Florida Statutes
9. They want to choose your repair contractor
A public adjuster may not take a contract or a power of attorney that gives them the effective authority to choose who performs your repair work, and may not profit from referring you to a contractor.
Authority: § 626.854(13), (18), Florida Statutes
10. Nobody will put anything in writing
You are entitled to a written acknowledgment of your claim within 7 days, a written coverage decision on request, a copy of the insurer's detailed estimate, and a written explanation whenever a payment is less than that estimate. A claim conducted entirely by phone is a claim you cannot prove.
Authority: § 627.70131 and § 627.7142, Florida Statutes
Two rules that cover most of it
Check the licence before you sign anything. It takes a minute, it is free, and it is the highest-value thing a homeowner can do. Every public adjuster, contractor, engineer and attorney in this state is in a public register — the resources page links each one.
Never sign on the day someone knocks. The paperwork is built to be signed under pressure. Take a night, read the cancellation clause, and if there is no cancellation clause, that is your answer.