Manatee Insurance Exchange Phone Number: Claims & Service 2026

To report a claim to Manatee Insurance Exchange, call 866-347-5131. That claims line is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week; for hurricane claims, select Option 1. For anything that is not a loss — billing, payments, policy changes, declarations pages, or underwriting questions — call 866-651-4441 instead.

Manatee Insurance Exchange is a Florida-domiciled, admitted property and casualty insurer headquartered in Tampa. It is organized as a reciprocal insurance exchange, which means its policyholders are called "subscribers" and the company is managed by an attorney-in-fact, Manatee Risk Management. Manatee received its Florida Certificate of Authority in early 2024 and was launched by the Tampa-based Safepoint group; claims are serviced through Safepoint, and adjuster reports are reviewed by Safepoint examiners. This guide collects the Manatee phone numbers, fax lines, email addresses, and mailing addresses published on the company's contact and claims pages, explains which one to use for which problem, and covers what to do when the phone stops working for you.

Manatee Insurance Exchange Contact Directory

Keep this table somewhere you can find it after a storm, when cell service is patchy and you are working from a phone with a dying battery.

What you need	How to reach Manatee
Report a claim (24/7)	866-347-5131 — hurricane claims, press Option 1
Check an existing claim	866-347-5131 or [email protected]
Claims fax	866-348-7944
Claims email	[email protected]
Flood claims	888-598-0446 (online flood reporting at safepointins.manageflood.com)
Underwriting, policy service, payments, policy access	866-651-4441
Underwriting fax	866-444-7117
Underwriting email	[email protected]
Mailing address	Manatee Insurance Exchange, PO Box 290959, Tampa, FL 33687
Overnight payments	Manatee Insurance, 4010 Gunn Hwy, Suite 100, Tampa, FL 33618-8744 (Mon–Fri, 8am–4pm)
Official website	manatee-insurance.com
Online claim form	manatee-insurance.com/claims-information/report-a-claim/

A warning about look-alike websites and wrong numbers

Manatee's official website is manatee-insurance.com, with a hyphen. The similar address manateeinsurance.com, without the hyphen, is not the company's site — it is a parked domain listed for sale. If you land there looking for a claims number, back out and retype the address with the hyphen.

Wrong phone numbers can circulate too. Use 866-347-5131 for claims and 866-651-4441 for service, and verify anything else against manatee-insurance.com before you call it or give out personal information.

Which Manatee Number Should You Call?

The two main lines split cleanly along one question: has something happened to your property, or do you have a question about the policy itself?

Call the claims line, 866-347-5131, when:

• A hurricane, tropical storm, or severe thunderstorm damaged your roof, windows, soffits, fencing, or screen enclosure.
• A plumbing supply line, water heater, appliance hose, or drain line failed and water spread through the interior.
• A tree or limb came down on the structure, or you had a fire, lightning strike, or power surge.
• Someone broke in and property was stolen or damaged.
• You need the status of a claim you already filed, or you need to report damage discovered after the original inspection.

Call underwriting and policy service, 866-651-4441, when:

• You need a copy of your declarations page, your full policy form, or your endorsements.
• You want to make a payment, change pay plans, or ask about the Subscriber Surplus Contribution shown on your bill.
• You are adding or removing a named insured, changing mailing addresses, or updating a mortgagee.
• You received a non-renewal, cancellation, or inspection-related letter.
• You have questions about your Subscriber Agreement and Limited Power of Attorney, which the first named insured must sign within 30 days of the policy effective date. Manatee reserves the right to cancel if it is not signed.
• Your Citizens policy was taken out by Manatee through the state's depopulation program and you want to understand the new terms.

Call the flood line, 888-598-0446, when your loss involves rising water, storm surge, or any other peril covered by a flood policy rather than the homeowners form. Flood is a separate policy with a separate claim process, and Manatee offers both personal and commercial flood. If you are not sure which policy applies, report the loss on both lines so neither notice deadline slips while coverage is sorted out.

One routing note: Manatee policies are sold exclusively through authorized independent agents. Your agent is not a replacement for the claims line, but may be able to help you obtain policy documents or answer policy questions.

What to Have Ready Before You Call

The claims intake call goes faster, and the file starts out cleaner, when you have this in front of you:

• Your policy number. It is on the declarations page and on any billing notice.
• The date and time of loss. Be as precise as you honestly can. In Florida, the date of loss starts the clock on your deadlines, so guessing badly can hurt you later.
• A one- or two-sentence description of what happened — "wind lifted shingles on the south slope during the storm on the 14th and water came through the ceiling in the back bedroom," not "storm damage."
• A list of affected rooms and major damaged items, with rough ages of the big-ticket items.
• Whether the home is habitable and whether anyone has been displaced.
• Photos and video taken before you moved or cleaned anything, if it was safe to take them.
• Any emergency mitigation already performed — tarping, water extraction, board-up — and who did it.
• Contact information for anyone involved, such as a plumber who diagnosed a failed line or a roofer who tarped.

If an interior water loss came from a failed component — a supply line, a hose, a valve, a fixture, an electrical part — save the failed part and show it to the adjuster. Manatee's own claim guidance asks for this specifically, and it may be important evidence in evaluating the cause of the loss.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Every Call

Insurance claims are won and lost on documentation, and a phone call produces none unless you make it produce some.

1. Write down who you spoke to. Full name, title, and the department. If you are transferred, note each handoff.
2. Record the date and time of every call, including the ones that ended on hold.
3. Get the claim number on the first call and use it in the subject line of every email afterward. Manatee issues a claim number when you report, and it is the index for everything that follows.
4. Ask for the adjuster's name, direct phone, and email as soon as one is assigned. Manatee's stated goal is that an adjuster contacts you within 24 hours of assignment.
5. Confirm in writing. After any substantive call, send a short email to [email protected] summarizing what was said: "Per our call today at 2:15 p.m. with [name], you advised that the inspection is scheduled for [date] and that I should not make permanent repairs until then." You are not being difficult. You are creating a record.
6. Ask what is missing. End every call with "Is anything outstanding that you need from me?" and write down the answer.
7. Do not guess about coverage on the phone. A field adjuster cannot make final coverage or payment decisions — Manatee's published process says the adjuster's report goes to Safepoint examiners for the coverage decision. Anything encouraging you hear in the driveway is not a coverage determination.
8. Keep receipts. Temporary repairs, tarps, dehumidifier rentals, and — if you had to leave the house — lodging and additional living expenses. Unreceipted spending is very hard to recover.

Filing a Claim Quickly

You can report a new loss through the 24/7 phone line at 866-347-5131 or the online report-a-claim form on manatee-insurance.com. The claims email, [email protected], is published for contacting the claims team about an existing claim, and the claims fax, 866-348-7944, handles paper documents when you have no scanner.

Manatee's published claim process runs in this order:

1. You report the loss and receive a claim number.
2. The claim is assigned to an adjuster, who aims to contact you within 24 hours.
3. You protect the property from further damage — temporary repairs are fine and you should keep the receipts, but no permanent repairs until the adjuster has inspected. After a water loss, stop the flow and dry the area out.
4. You save the failed part that caused an interior water loss and show it to the adjuster.
5. If you are displaced, you keep lodging and living-expense receipts.
6. The adjuster's report goes to Safepoint examiners. If a payment is issued, you receive a check, a copy of the estimate, and a letter explaining the decision.

For a step-by-step walkthrough of the reporting call itself, including what to say and what documents to gather first, see our companion guide on filing a claim with Manatee Insurance Exchange.

Checking Claim Status

To check a claim, call 866-347-5131 or email [email protected] with your claim number in the subject line. Manatee also publishes a check-my-claim page on manatee-insurance.com.

Before you call, know the Florida deadlines that a status check should be measured against, because "we're still working on it" means something very different on day 12 than on day 75:

Florida deadline	What it requires	Statute
Acknowledge communications	Within 7 days of receiving your communication	627.70131
Begin investigation	Within 7 days after receiving proof of loss	627.70131
Physical inspection	Within 30 days after the insurer receives the proof-of-loss statements, if it needs one	627.70131
Send you any detailed estimate it generates	Within 7 days after the insurer's adjuster generates it (the law does not require creating one)	627.70131
Pay or deny the claim	Within 60 days after receiving notice of the claim, absent factors beyond the insurer's control	627.70131(7)(a)
Your notice deadline — new or reopened claim	Within 1 year of the date of loss	627.70132
Your notice deadline — supplemental claim	Within 18 months of the date of loss	627.70132

The last two rows are your deadlines, not the carrier's, and they are easy to overlook. If you are past a year from the storm and have not noticed the claim, ask a lawyer before you assume the file is dead.

Florida law also requires the insurer to send you a copy of any detailed estimate of the loss within 7 days after its adjuster generates it — you should not have to ask. If it does not arrive, ask in writing by email, and ask for the full line-item estimate rather than a summary. For residential claims, the insurer must also provide the Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights under section 627.7142; if you never received it, request it.

When Phone Contact Is Not Working

If calls are not producing answers, escalate in a way that leaves a paper trail. In roughly this order:

Move to email. Send everything to [email protected] for loss issues or [email protected] for policy issues, always with your claim or policy number in the subject line. Email timestamps itself, which a phone call does not.

Use the fax lines. Claims fax is 866-348-7944; underwriting fax is 866-444-7117. A transmission report is proof of delivery when a carrier says it never received a document.

Send it in writing by mail. For anything important — a sworn proof of loss, a formal demand, a coverage dispute — mail it to Manatee Insurance Exchange, PO Box 290959, Tampa, FL 33687, and keep proof of mailing. The Gunn Highway address is for overnight payments only.

Loop in your agent. Because Manatee sells through authorized independent agents, you may also ask your agent for help with policy-service questions.

Use Florida's free consumer remedies. The Department of Financial Services runs a free mediation program for residential property claims under section 627.7015 — non-binding, insurer-funded, and it puts a neutral in the room. Sinkhole disputes have their own neutral evaluation process under section 627.7074. If your policy has an appraisal clause, appraisal may resolve a pure dollar disagreement without litigation.

Escalate to a formal notice. If the dispute is about more than the dollar amount — a flat denial, a coverage position you believe is wrong, or months of silence — Florida requires a Notice of Intent to Initiate Litigation filed with DFS at least 10 business days before suit under section 627.70152. A Civil Remedy Notice under section 624.155 starts a 60-day cure period on bad-faith conduct. Both are technical filings with content requirements, and a defective one can cost you.

Red Flags: When to Call a Lawyer Instead of the Claims Line

Not every claim requires a lawyer. The tell is usually that additional phone calls stop changing anything. Consider a free case review if:

• The 60-day window under 627.70131 has passed with no payment and no written denial.
• The claim was denied outright on grounds that do not match what happened — wear and tear on a roof that was intact before a named storm, or a "long-term seepage" finding on a pipe that failed in one event.
• The estimate is far below any real repair cost, or it prices a patch where the damage calls for replacement.
• A water loss was denied over the cause of the failure, especially if you preserved the failed part and nobody examined it.
• Nobody ever inspected the property, or an inspection happened months after you submitted your proof of loss.
• You are being asked to sign a release or accept a "final" payment you do not understand.
• The detailed estimate never arrived within 7 days of being generated, or you cannot get the coverage decision in writing.
• The claim was reassigned repeatedly and each new adjuster restarts the file from zero.
• You are inside the one-year notice window and running out of runway. The deadline in 627.70132 is strict, subject to the statute's limited tolling provision for certain servicemember deployments, and waiting for one more callback can cost you the claim.

Louis Law Group represents Florida homeowners in disputed property insurance claims, including hurricane, wind, roof, water, and mold losses. Start with our overview of property damage claims in Florida, or read what a denied hurricane claim with Manatee usually involves. For roof and water disputes specifically, see our roof damage claim and water damage pages.

One point of candor about cost: Florida's one-way attorney fee rule for property insurance claims was eliminated by the 2022–2023 insurance reforms (SB 2-A and HB 837), so you should not assume the insurer will be ordered to pay your attorney's fees. Fee arrangements are discussed at the consultation. The consultation itself costs nothing.

Talk to a Florida Property Insurance Attorney

If your Manatee Insurance Exchange claim has been denied, underpaid, or left sitting past the deadlines above, call Louis Law Group at (833) 657-4812 for a free case review, or see whether your claim qualifies online. Bring your claim number, the denial or payment letter if you have one, and any photos — that is usually enough for a first conversation. Keep calling Manatee at 866-347-5131 in the meantime; talking to a lawyer does not close your claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Manatee Insurance Exchange claims phone number?

The claims line is 866-347-5131, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For hurricane claims, select Option 1. You can also report a new loss through the online report-a-claim form on manatee-insurance.com; the claims email, [email protected], and the claims fax, 866-348-7944, are published for reaching the claims team and sending documents on an existing claim.

What is the Manatee Insurance customer service or underwriting number?

Call 866-651-4441 for underwriting, policy service, payments, and policy document access. The underwriting fax is 866-444-7117 and the email is [email protected]. Because Manatee sells only through authorized independent agents, your agent can also handle many service requests directly.

How do I make a payment to Manatee Insurance Exchange?

Payments are handled through the policy service line at 866-651-4441. Manatee offers full pay, 2-pay, and 4-pay plans, and accepts credit card payments (a vendor fee applies) or e-check (no fee). Overnight payments go to Manatee Insurance, 4010 Gunn Hwy, Suite 100, Tampa, FL 33618-8744, which receives Monday through Friday, 8am to 4pm.

What is Manatee Insurance Exchange's mailing address?

The mailing address is Manatee Insurance Exchange, PO Box 290959, Tampa, FL 33687. Use the Gunn Highway address in Tampa only for overnight payment deliveries during business hours. Written correspondence about a claim should also be emailed or faxed so you have a timestamped copy.

How long does Manatee have to pay or deny my claim in Florida?

Under section 627.70131, a Florida insurer generally must pay or deny a covered property claim or a portion of it within 60 days after receiving notice, subject to factors beyond the insurer's control and the statute's tolling provisions. The insurer must also acknowledge your communications within 7 days and, if it needs a physical inspection, conduct it within 30 days after receiving your proof-of-loss statements. If the 60-day mark passes with no payment and no written denial, that is a reasonable point to get advice.

How do I check the status of my Manatee claim?

Call 866-347-5131 or email [email protected] with your claim number in the subject line; Manatee also publishes a check-my-claim page on its website. Ask specifically for the assigned adjuster's name and direct contact, the date of the last file activity, and whether anything is outstanding from you. Florida law also requires the insurer to send you a copy of any detailed estimate of the loss within 7 days after its adjuster generates it, so ask for it if it never arrived.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.