Melbourne storm & claim resource

Melbourne sits on the Space Coast, mainland on the Indian River Lagoon with barrier-island beaches one bridge east. In October 2016 Hurricane Matthew tracked just offshore Brevard on its closest approach to the coast, battering the barrier island with hurricane-force wind and surge. Frances and Jeanne had done the same from the ground in 2004, striking Brevard within three weeks. Storms like these raise the hardest question in Florida property insurance: which storm, and which peril, owes for the damage?

What Melbourne claims turn on

Surge and lagoon flooding are flood, and flood is excluded from every homeowners policy — it needs NFIP or private flood coverage. Wind is covered, behind a hurricane deductible that is a percentage of the home’s insured value, not the loss. When a home is both flooded and wind-damaged, the wind carrier and the flood carrier each point at the other. On repeat or back-to-back storms, insurers also argue over which storm caused what — an allocation fight that can close a claim without full payment.

The law here

Florida gives you one year from the date of loss to give notice of a hurricane claim and 18 months for a supplemental claim (§ 627.70132, as amended by SB 2-A in 2023), and the carrier must pay or deny within 60 days of a complete proof of loss (§ 627.70131). For storms that are already years past, those notice windows have generally closed — but a claim you already filed that was denied or underpaid can still have options, and the deadline to sue on a filed claim is longer. These are general figures — confirm the current statutes and your own dates with counsel before relying on them.