If the check or estimate your insurance company sent is nowhere near what it will actually cost to fix your Florida property, you are not imagining it, and you are not stuck with it. A first offer is a starting position, not a verdict. Here is how to respond, step by step, with the Florida rules that back you up.
First, understand what a lowball offer usually is
Most low offers are not a clerk being cruel. They are an estimate written fast, from a short visit, by an adjuster carrying dozens of files, priced with software settings the carrier controls. It leaves out matching, code upgrades, access damage, and everything the adjuster did not open a wall to see. The carrier's number is simply the least documented version of your loss. Your job is to build the most documented version.
Step 1: Do not cash anything until you read it, and do not sign a release
In Florida, a partial payment is not the end of your claim, and the law requires the carrier to say so. Under section 627.70131, when an insurer sends a payment that is not full and final, it must include a written statement that it is continuing to evaluate your claim and may issue additional payments. Depositing an ordinary claim check generally does not waive the rest of your claim. What can end your claim is signing a release or a document titled "full and final settlement." Read every enclosure before you sign anything.
Step 2: Demand the carrier's own estimate, in writing
This is the most useful right almost nobody uses. Florida law gives the insurer 7 days to send you a copy of any detailed estimate its adjuster generates. Ask for it by email so there is a record. When you can see their line items, you can see exactly what they left out, and the argument stops being about feelings and starts being about a list.
Step 3: Build your number
Get your own itemized repair estimate from a licensed contractor, not a verbal ballpark, a written scope with quantities and prices. Photograph and video everything, including what is behind and underneath. If materials cannot be matched, say so in writing, because uniform appearance is part of the conversation in Florida. If the rebuild triggers current code, those upgrade costs belong in the claim, not in your pocket.
Step 4: Respond in writing, with the gap itemized
Send the carrier a short letter or email: here is your estimate, here is mine, here are the line items you missed, here is the documentation. Ask them to reinspect or revise. Keep a dated log of every call and email. Florida gives the carrier 60 days from notice of a claim to pay or deny with a reasonable written explanation, and your paper trail is what makes that clock enforceable.
Step 5: Know your escalation options, in order of cost
Supplemental claim. If you already got paid and the damage turned out to be bigger, Florida law gives you 18 months from the date of loss to file a supplemental claim. A low first payment is often best answered with a fully documented supplement.
Appraisal. Most Florida policies contain an appraisal clause, a formal process where each side hires an appraiser and a neutral umpire breaks ties on the amount. It resolves pricing disputes without a lawsuit.
A public adjuster. A licensed public adjuster works only for you, never the carrier, documents the full scope, and negotiates the claim. In Florida, public adjuster fees are capped by statute and are a percentage of what is recovered, so the economics only work when there is real money being left on the table, which is exactly the lowball situation.
An attorney. For a wrongful denial or a carrier that has stopped responding, a property insurance attorney is the next step. Many low-offer disputes settle well before that.
What not to do
Do not vent by phone and leave no record. Do not let a contractor "handle the claim," in Florida only a licensed public adjuster or an attorney may negotiate a claim on your behalf. Do not miss the clocks: one year from the date of loss to give notice of a claim, 18 months for a supplemental. And do not accept "that's just what the software says" as an answer. The software prices what someone typed into it.
The short version
Get their estimate, build yours, put the gap in writing, and escalate in order: supplement, appraisal, representation. Low first offers move more often than people think, but only for the policyholder who shows up with a documented number instead of a complaint.
General information only, not legal advice or a coverage determination. Coverage depends on your specific policy, the facts of your loss, and current Florida law. Statutes referenced were read from the Florida Legislature on August 31, 2026.