We Are Screen People, Not Adjusters
Up front: we fix screens. We are not insurance adjusters, and nothing here is insurance advice. Your policy, your agent, and your adjuster are the authorities on what your coverage does. What follows is how homeowners in Pinellas County usually handle enclosure claims — the process, not the fine print.
Document Before You Clean Up
Photograph everything before you touch anything: wide shots of the whole enclosure from every side, close-ups of each damaged panel, bent frame members, broken doors. If debris caused the damage, photograph the debris too. Date-stamped photos are your claim's foundation — "after cleanup" photos without "before" photos weaken it. Our hurricane damage guide covers the full post-storm sequence.
File Promptly
Call your agent or file through your insurer's app as soon as it is safe. Policies have deadlines for filing, and after a major storm, adjuster schedules fill up fast. Have your photos ready and a written description of the damage. Ask your agent directly: is the screen enclosure covered, what is my deductible, and are there windstorm exclusions I should know about?
The Deductible Question
Many Florida policies have a separate hurricane deductible — often a percentage of the home's insured value, not a flat dollar amount. A $5,000 rescreen against a $7,500 hurricane deductible means the claim does not pay. Know your deductible before you file; filing a claim that cannot pay still puts a claim on your record. This is a conversation for your agent, not us.
Get a Written Repair Quote for the Adjuster
Adjusters work from documentation. A written, itemized quote — panel count, mesh type, frame work, doors — gives the adjuster real numbers instead of guesses. Send us the form with your photos and we will provide a written quote you can hand to your adjuster. We do this regularly after storms.
Repair Now or Wait for the Claim?
If the enclosure is unsafe or wide open to the pool, do emergency repairs now — insurers expect you to mitigate further damage, and "we waited for the adjuster while the pool filled with debris" is not a good look. Keep every receipt. For non-urgent damage, most homeowners wait for the adjuster's visit before authorizing the full repair.
What Usually Is Not Covered
Wear and tear is not storm damage — a 14-year-old brittle screen that finally tore in a tropical storm may be classified as maintenance, not a covered loss. Flood-driven damage goes through flood insurance, not homeowners. And some policies specifically exclude screen enclosures or cap their coverage. Read your policy or ask your agent — do not assume.