Florida's 15-year roof rule: what the statute actually says

Florida did not pass a new roof-age insurance law this year. SB 808, which would have widened the existing protections, died in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on March 13, 2026, and its House companion, HB 815, died the same day. The rule that governs every South Florida renewal is still the one written in the May 2022 special session: Section 627.7011(5), Florida Statutes, created by chapter 2022-268 and applying to policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2022.

Why it matters

The statute is narrower than the shorthand. Paragraph (5)(b) bars an insurer from refusing to issue or renew a homeowner’s policy on a structure whose roof is less than 15 years old solely because of the roof’s age. That is an age test. The condition test lives in (5)(c) and only switches on once a roof is at least 15 years old: the insurer must allow an owner-paid inspection by an authorized inspector before requiring replacement as a condition of coverage, and may not refuse to renew solely for age if the inspection finds “5 years or more of useful life remaining.”

Two details carry the practical weight. Under (5)(a) the inspector must be one the insurer approves, so the owner does not choose freely. And (5)(d) dates a roof from the last time 100 percent of its surface area was built or replaced, meaning partial repairs do not reset the clock. For an agent, that is the disclosure line: a 14-year-old roof is protected by age, a 16-year-old roof is protected only by a result. For a builder pricing a re-roof, it decides whether the scope is a full tear-off or a patch that leaves the age date untouched.

The numbers

Citizens Property Insurance reported roughly 274,000 policies in force as of June 23, 2026, about 2 percent of the Florida residential market, down from 1.4 million in late 2023. Depopulation matters here because private carriers now write nearly all of it, and each maintains its own approved-inspector list. Section 627.7011 has been amended twice since 2022, by chapters 2022-271 and 2024-182, and the useful-life threshold still reads five years.

What’s next

SB 808 would have extended the protection from homeowner’s policies to all residential property policies, reaching condo associations and landlords, and required insurers to treat low-slope and steep-slope roofs differently above 15 years. None of that is law. Expect it back in the 2027 session. Until then the operative question on a 15-year roof is what the inspection says. More Miami coverage.