Florida Property Insurance Presuit Notice Law Does Not Apply Retroactively

Case Overview

Case: Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company v. Rebecca Hughes
Court: Supreme Court of Florida
Date: October 22, 2026
Docket: SC2024-0025

Facts

Rebecca Hughes held a homeowners insurance policy issued by Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company for the period from April 24, 2019, through April 24, 2020. She submitted a water-damage claim on May 29, 2019. Universal investigated the claim and issued payment, but Hughes disputed the amount as insufficient. She relied on three contractor bids to demand additional benefits.

On July 1, 2021, section 627.70152, Florida Statutes, became effective. The statute required a property-insurance claimant to submit a written notice of intent to litigate through the Florida Department of Financial Services at least ten business days before filing suit. On August 4, 2021, Hughes sued Universal over the 2019 claim without submitting that notice. Universal moved to dismiss. The trial court agreed that the new requirement applied and dismissed Hughes's complaint without prejudice. The Sixth District Court of Appeal reversed, concluding that the statute did not apply retroactively to a policy issued before its effective date.

Ruling

The Florida Supreme Court approved the Sixth District's decision and disapproved the Fourth District's contrary decision in Cole v. Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co. The Court held that section 627.70152 did not apply to Hughes's action because her policy was issued in 2019, before the statute took effect.

Applying the two-step retroactivity test from Menendez v. Progressive Express Insurance Co., the Court first examined whether the Legislature clearly directed retroactive application. It found no such command. The statute's reference to “all suits” identified the types of actions covered but did not expressly include suits arising from previously issued policies. Legislative silence could not establish retroactive intent, and the statute's specified effective date further weighed against retroactive application.

The Court also rejected Universal's argument that the notice requirement was merely procedural. Viewed as a whole, the statute delayed an insured's right to sue, required dismissal for noncompliance, gave insurers additional time and a safe harbor to resolve claims, and affected the recovery of certain attorney's fees. Those effects significantly altered the parties' substantive rights and obligations.

Takeaway for Public Adjusters and Claims Professionals

The policy's issuance date can determine which version of Florida insurance law governs a coverage dispute. For claims involving older policies, professionals should preserve the complete policy, declarations, claim correspondence, payment records, estimates, and contractor bids. Although parts of section 627.70152 have changed since enactment (its attorney's-fee subsection (8) was repealed in 2022), the presuit notice requirement remains in the Florida Statutes today, and this decision settles which policies it reaches while reinforcing Florida's rule that substantive insurance-code changes generally require clear legislative language before they may govern earlier-issued policies.

How Louis Law Group Can Help

Louis Law Group represents Florida policyholders in water-damage, underpayment, claim-denial, and coverage disputes. If an insurer is relying on a later-enacted requirement to challenge a claim under an older policy, call (833) 657-4812 to discuss the applicable law and available options.

Citation: Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company v. Hughes, No. SC2024-0025 (Fla. Oct. 22, 2026).

Source: View Full Opinion on CourtListener

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