Does Insurance Cover Screen Enclosure Damage in Florida?

We get this call every storm season, and the honest answer disappoints people — so it's better to hear it before a storm than after. We are not adjusters and we will never tell you what your policy covers. What we can do is explain how enclosures usually sit in a Florida policy, so you know which questions to ask your own agent.

Why it's not covered like your house

Homeowners assume the enclosure is part of the home, so it's covered like the home. In most Florida policies it isn't. Enclosures commonly land in one of these buckets:

• A separate screened-enclosure provision with its own dollar limit — often a fraction of what the structure would cost to rebuild.
• “Other structures” coverage, which is itself capped at a percentage of your dwelling coverage and shared with fences, sheds, and anything else detached.
• Limited or excluded for wind specifically. Some policies cover the aluminum frame but not the screen itself, on the reasoning that mesh is designed to fail.

Which of those applies to you is in your policy documents, under wording about screened enclosures, carports, or awnings. It is worth finding that paragraph today rather than on the phone after a storm.

Check the deductible first

This is the part that catches the most people, and it's the reason we tell plenty of homeowners not to bother filing.

Florida policies typically carry a separate hurricane deductible, and it's usually a percentage of your dwelling coverage rather than a flat figure. On a home insured for a few hundred thousand dollars, a 2% hurricane deductible is thousands of dollars.

Now put that against a screen repair. If a named storm tore three panels and bent a beam, the repair may well cost less than your deductible — which means a claim pays you nothing, and you've still filed a claim. Most people learn this after the adjuster visit instead of before.

So before anything else: find your hurricane deductible, get a real written number for the repair, and compare the two. If the repair is smaller, you have a maintenance expense, not a claim. That's not bad news — it's usually the cheaper, faster path, and a rescreen is rarely a rebuild.

The other surprise: age

If your claim does clear the deductible, how it pays out depends on whether your policy settles at replacement cost or actual cash value.

• Replacement cost pays what it costs to rebuild it now.
• Actual cash value pays what the old enclosure was worth after depreciation — which, on a 15-year-old cage with sun-worn screen, can be a fraction of the rebuild cost.

Both are normal; they're just priced differently. Knowing which one you have tells you what a successful claim actually looks like.

What to do the day it happens

Whatever you decide about filing, do these in the first day or two — they cost nothing and they're impossible to recreate later:

• Photograph everything before you touch it, wide shots and close ups, including the undamaged sections for comparison.
• Note the date and the storm name. Carriers care which event caused it, and “sometime this fall” is a weak answer.
• Make it safe, don't make it pretty. Clear hazards, but don't haul away the evidence before it's documented.
• Get a written, itemized scope from a contractor — not a number on the back of a card.
• Keep receipts for anything you spend making it safe.

What we can and can't do

We can: come out, assess the whole structure rather than the obvious damage, and give you photos plus a written itemized scope your carrier can actually read. That's the thing that moves a claim — a clear document beats a vague estimate every time.

We can't, and won't: tell you whether your policy covers it, what your payout should be, or how to describe the damage to your adjuster. Anyone in a truck who offers to do those things is doing something you should be wary of.

That last point matters after a big storm. Be careful with anyone who knocks on your door offering to “handle the insurance for you,” promising to cover your deductible, or asking you to sign over your claim benefits before you've read it. If you want help understanding your rights, Florida's Department of Financial Services consumer services is the neutral place to start — not a contractor, and not us.

Storm damage and want a real number to compare against your deductible? Call (904) 862-8688. More on how we handle these on our storm damage page, and what to do before the next one.

FAQ

Does homeowners insurance cover screen enclosure damage in Florida?

Sometimes, but rarely on the same terms as the house. Enclosures are commonly covered under a separate provision with its own limit, and wind damage to the screen itself is often restricted. Your policy's screened-enclosure wording is the only thing that answers this for your home.

Should I file a claim for a torn pool cage?

Compare the repair cost to your hurricane deductible first. If the repair is smaller — which is common for screen-only damage — a claim pays nothing and you've filed anyway. Get a written repair number before you call anyone.

Will filing a claim raise my premium?

That's a question for your agent, not a contractor. We mention it only because it's worth asking before you file, alongside the deductible question.

Do you work directly with insurance companies?

We give you photos and a written itemized scope to submit. We don't negotiate with carriers or act as your representative — we're the people who document the damage accurately and then fix it.

How soon should I get the damage looked at?

Soon, for two reasons: a bent frame can fail in the next blow, and documentation is strongest close to the event. Call (904) 862-8688 and we'll give you a realistic timeline rather than a comfortable one.