Hurricane, wind and hail claim deadlines by state

Hail belt deadlines at a glance

No state rule means no statute or regulation on that point was found. There, the policy's own notice and suit terms govern; the standard ISO commercial property form asks for prompt notice of the loss, with no set number of days. Each row applies to commercial policies unless it says otherwise.⁴³

Florida

In Florida, for policies issued or renewed after December 16, 2022, notice of a new or reopened claim under any property insurance policy is due within 1 year after the date of loss, and notice of a supplemental claim within 18 months. For a hurricane, the date of loss is the landfall date.^5,9,7,10

The rule, section 627.70132, covers any property insurance policy, surplus lines included, for loss from any peril; Florida defines property insurance as insurance on real or personal property of every kind. It has no residential or building size limit.^5,9,6,7

• Reopened claim: a closed claim reopened at the insured's request for added costs on damage already disclosed.⁵
• Supplemental claim: added loss from the same peril that the insurer already adjusted, or costs of completing repairs under an open, timely claim.⁵
• Date of loss: landfall for a hurricane; for a tornado, windstorm, severe rain or other weather event, the date NOAA verifies it.⁵

Florida's insurer deadlines in 627.70131 bind residential property insurers, and residential coverage includes condominium association, cooperative association and apartment building policies. The 60-day pay or deny rule also covers commercial buildings of 10,000 square feet or less, but not nonresidential commercial policies covering more than one state. It can be extended by at most 30 days after a Governor's state of emergency.^6,8,7

Louisiana

In Louisiana, the policy sets when notice is due; the Department of Insurance lists notice of loss among the policy's duties.¹⁴

Under R.S. 22:1264, for policies delivered after April 18, 2006, the proof of loss period after a declared disaster is at least 180 days. It does not start while an emergency declaration is in effect and authorities keep the insured off the property.¹³

For the insurer's deadlines, a catastrophic loss is one from a natural disaster, windstorm or significant weather event declared an emergency or disaster by the President or the Governor. The commissioner may add up to 30 days to the 30-day start.¹¹

Under R.S. 22:1892.2, effective July 1, 2024, the commissioner can also add up to 30 days to the 90-day catastrophe payment deadline for commercial policies on multiple locations.¹²

Texas

In Texas, TWIA policyholders have 1 year from the date of damage to file a claim, and the commissioner may extend it up to 180 days for good cause.^1,2

TWIA policies must also give notice of the deadlines for supplemental payments (Insurance Code 2210.205). Under chapter 542, eligible surplus lines insurers get 30 business days to acknowledge and 20 business days to pay, and a weather catastrophe, as the commissioner defines it, adds 15 days.^2,4

Across Texas, for hail and wind as for any loss, a contract term requiring notice of a claim in less than 90 days as a condition to sue is void, and so is a time limit to sue shorter than 2 years (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.070 and 16.071).²⁸

For wind and hail insurers in the TWIA catastrophe area, Insurance Code 2301.010 allows a suit limit that ends no earlier than 2 years after the insurer accepts or rejects the claim or 3 years after the loss, whichever comes first, and a 1-year claim term that must allow later claims for good cause.³

Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina

In Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina, the policy's own notice terms set the reporting deadline.^15,17,19,20

In Mississippi and South Carolina, the department post-disaster guides, written for homeowners, list the time to file a claim as a question to ask the insurer. A Mississippi department release of March 16, 2025, says a policy may require notice within a certain time.^16,20,15

In Alabama, an insurer may deny a claim for late notice only under a specific policy provision or a breach of the policy. If it needs more than 30 days to decide, it must say why and update the claimant every 45 days.^17,18

In South Carolina, if an insurer that requires a proof of loss does not send the form within 20 days of notice, written proof of the loss sent within the policy's time meets the requirement.¹⁹

North Carolina

In North Carolina, the standard fire policy calls for immediate written notice of a loss and bars suit unless it starts within three years after inception of the loss.²¹

Every fire policy on North Carolina property, except auto and marine policies, must conform in substance to the standard fire policy in G.S. 58-44-16; other perils are added by written endorsement. The Department of Insurance's homeowners FAQ says no specific time limit applies to settling a claim.^21,23

Georgia

In Georgia, the policy's own notice terms set the reporting deadline.²⁷

Georgia's unfair claims settlement law lists, as unfair practices, failing to provide claim forms within 15 calendar days of a request and failing to acknowledge claim communications with reasonable promptness.²⁴

Georgia House Bill 1344, signed May 12, 2026, adds section 33-3-28.1 for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027. After a hurricane, windstorm, hail storm or other event declared a disaster or emergency by the President or the Governor, the commissioner may extend the time to file claims when qualified resources are lacking and may direct the insurer deadlines in the table.^25,26

Hail belt states

• Standard fire policies: Iowa, Minnesota and Oklahoma write a standard fire policy into law, with immediate written notice of a loss and a fixed time to sue, and North Dakota adopts the 1943 New York standard fire policy. All four let forms that add other perils, such as wind and hail, carry different terms that apply only to those perils. In Minnesota, the state supreme court has held that the standard fire policy's terms apply only to fire losses under an all-risk policy.^{29,34,37,39,44}
• Oklahoma: a property policy may not limit the time to sue to less than 1 year from the date of the event that caused the loss; such a term is void, and the rest of the policy stands. Under the fire insurance article, an insurer can rely on a 60-day sworn proof of loss deadline only if it sent two blank proof of loss forms with a bold warning of the deadline and gave 60 days from their receipt.²⁹
• Minnesota: every policy of insurance against damage by hail must say that no suit can be brought unless started within 1 year after the loss occurred, and must set the form, manner and length of notice of a loss. In an order of December 19, 2024, a federal court in Minnesota read this as covering hail-specific policies, such as crop hail, and not all-risk policies. It applied a Commerce Department rule that bars filing any casualty insurer's policy form with a suit limit under 2 years, and held a 2-year limit applied to a condominium association's all-risk policy. The standard fire policy allows 2 years after inception of the loss.^38,37,44
• North Dakota: every fire insurance policy on North Dakota property must conform to the 1943 New York standard fire policy, and none may limit the time to sue to less than 3 years. The rule does not apply to inland marine, ocean marine or automobile insurance. Endorsements that add other perils may carry terms that apply only to those perils.³⁴
• Nebraska: an insurer may not issue a policy in Nebraska that limits the time to sue below the state's statutes of limitations, unless the insurance chapter provides otherwise. Actions on written contracts have 5 years.^30,31
• South Dakota, Missouri and Montana: state law voids contract terms that limit the time to sue, so the general limits for contract actions apply: 6 years in South Dakota and 6 years for written contracts in Montana. Missouri's Revisor of Statutes notes a federal appeals ruling that its rule covers insurance policies.^{32,33,40,41,42}
• Colorado: since January 1, 2014, an insurer may not issue or renew a homeowner's insurance policy that sets a time to sue shorter than the statute of limitations, which is 3 years for contract actions. The rule names homeowner's insurance only, not commercial policies.^35,36
• Iowa: the standard fire policy bars suit unless started within 12 months after inception of the loss, and requires a sworn proof of loss within 60 days of the loss unless the insurer extends it in writing.³⁹