can I submit a new insurance claim on roof damage after unpaid claim unrepaired

Question

I am a long time member on the developer/code side of StackExchange, but this is my first time on the legal forum, and I confess that I hate questions like this over on the developers' forum -- that is, vague and meandering. But I can't even come up with proper, concise question to search for pre-existing answers in a meaningful way. I apologize because if you're reading this I do realize your time is valuable.

If anyone can help me even with just the proper framing and wording of the question, I can press ahead with answering it myself.

Question: If I have a existing property claim on roof damage from a hurricane in 2008 that was never paid, can I make a new claim on new damage now 7 years later? Does the insurance company have the right to reject it.

Details: Back at the time of the original claim, I wanted to upgrade my roof, so I was waiting to save up more money to add to the value of the claim and replace the roof. Metal instead of shingles. Insurance would not pay full value of the claim until I provided proof of actual repair. The original emergency claim adjuster told me over and over again that it's "my money" and there's no expiration on the payout. I called several years in a row to confirm this and was told the same thing. Then one year I was told no. State Farm said they are not required to pay the claim under Florida law. So I never replaced my roof. Now it's leaking after an intense storm (not a hurricane, yet possible to argue it was effect of tropical storm). I'm wondering if there are any loopholes or bureaucratic options that would recategorize my claim and allow me to collect full payment.

Disclaimer(s): Yes yes yes I should have just taken the money and repaired the roof instead of trying to upgrade it, but the insurance rep told me again and again that it wouldn't expire, so I thought I was safe. Yes I would love to be able to do it over again and not be typing lengthy questions into StackExchange.

Thank you for your time and any help.

Answer 1

The old claim is probably barred by a state statute of limitations (best guess) and the adjuster was probably misleading in saying that you could wait for as long as you wanted to file a claim.

You almost certainly can file a claim for new damage, but the insurance company would probably be within its rights to limit its payout to damage actually caused by the new storm and not merely by your failure to repair your roof. And, the insurance company is probably not obligated to pay more than would be necessary to return your roof to the condition it was in before the new storm.