Roof age is the single largest underwriting factor in Florida homeowners insurance, and Florida law sets out specifically what an insurer may and may not do about it once a roof passes 15 years.
This article is general information about how that process works and where photography is genuinely useful inside it. It is not insurance advice and it is not legal advice. Florida Statutes section 627.7011 is the governing text, the Florida Department of Financial Services publishes consumer guidance, and your own carrier and agent are the authority on your specific policy.
What Does Florida Law Actually Say About Roof Age?
The short version, and the part most owners have heard secondhand and half wrong.
An insurer generally may not refuse to issue or renew a homeowners policy solely because of the age of the roof when the roof is under 15 years old. Once the roof reaches 15 years, the insurer may require an inspection before making that decision. And if the inspection finds the roof has at least five years of useful life remaining, age alone is not grounds for refusal.
So the 15 year mark is not a cliff. It is the point at which the burden shifts, and the inspection becomes the thing that decides the outcome.
| Roof age | What an insurer may generally do | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Under 15 years | Not refuse on age alone | Age is not the issue |
| 15 years or older | Require an inspection first | The inspection finding |
| 15 years or older, five plus years of life certified | Not refuse on age alone | The certification |
| Any age, documented damage | Underwrite on condition | Condition, not age |
What Changed on 1 July 2026?
Senate Bill 808 took effect on 1 July 2026 and broadened who counts as an authorised inspector for these purposes. The previous definition was narrow enough that owners in some markets struggled to get an inspection booked inside a renewal window at all.
The revised definition takes in more categories of licensed professional, including home inspectors licensed under section 468.8314, building code inspectors certified under section 468.607, and certain roof consultants and roof observers. The practical effect for a homeowner is a larger pool of people who can produce a finding the carrier has to accept, which mostly means shorter waits.
It did not change the 15 year trigger and it did not change the five year useful life standard. If you were told the law "fixed" roof age underwriting this summer, it did not.
What Can a Photograph Do Here, and What Can It Not?
This is the part to be blunt about, because the drone industry oversells it.
A photographer is not an inspector. Jet Media Productions does not perform roof inspections, does not certify remaining useful life, and cannot produce a document a carrier will accept in place of an inspection by an authorised inspector. Anyone in this industry telling you otherwise is selling you something that will not work when it matters.
What an aerial set does is narrower and still worth having.
| What aerial documentation does | What it does not do |
|---|---|
| Creates a dated visual record of condition on a known date | Substitute for an authorised inspection |
| Shows the full roof plane without anyone on a ladder | Certify remaining useful life |
| Gives an out of state owner a real look at their own roof | Bind a carrier to anything |
| Establishes a before state if damage is later disputed | Diagnose underlayment or decking condition |
| Documents a portfolio of rentals in one pass | Replace a contractor's assessment |
The genuine value is chronological. Insurance disputes almost always turn on when something happened, and an owner who can produce a clear dated set from before the event is in a materially different position from an owner who cannot. That is the same argument as pre-storm documentation, applied to a different trigger.
When Is the Right Time to Shoot It?
Ahead of the renewal, not during it. Once a carrier has issued a non-renewal notice the clock is short and everything gets expensive.
The useful sequence is straightforward. Know your roof's age and your renewal date. If the roof is approaching or past 15 years, get the documentation done while there is no deadline attached to it. Book the inspection separately with someone qualified to perform one. Keep both on file.
For anyone holding several properties, and that describes most short-term rental owners in this corridor, doing it as one scheduled pass across the portfolio is far cheaper per property than doing it one panicked address at a time.
What Should an Aerial Roof Set Contain?
At minimum: every roof plane covered, each one photographed square on rather than at a steep oblique, all valleys and ridges, every penetration including vents, boots, and any solar or satellite mounting, plus the flashing at every wall junction. Then a set of context frames showing the roof in relation to the whole structure.
Overhead frames alone are not enough. Damage to a shingle edge or a lifted seam frequently only reads from an angle, and an inspector or adjuster looking at the file later will want both.
Every frame carries its capture date in the file metadata, which is the entire point of doing it deliberately rather than pulling something off a phone from an unknown month.
Drone work at Jet Media Productions is flown under FAA Part 107 certification, with airspace authorisation obtained where the property sits in controlled airspace. Documentation sets are quoted per property, and portfolio pricing applies when several addresses are shot in one scheduling block.
Approaching a renewal on a roof past 15 years, or holding rentals you have not looked at from above in a few seasons? Get the dated set on file before you need it, and book the inspection with someone licensed to perform one.