Property Damage Lawyer Lighthouse Point, FL
Lighthouse Point is one of northern Broward County’s most sought-after coastal communities. Its canal-lined streets, proximity to the Intracoastal Waterway, and exposure to the Atlantic Ocean create a lifestyle that is genuinely difficult to replicate. They also create a property damage risk profile unlike anything found inland. Hurricane winds, storm surge, wind-driven rain, salt-air corrosion, and year-round humidity combine to make property damage claims here both common and heavily contested by insurance carriers.
When you file a property damage claim in Lighthouse Point, your insurer has the resources, the adjusters, and the legal infrastructure to fight it. Most homeowners do not. Close that gap with The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers. Our firm resources, dedicated experience, and skilled case preparation help you achieve a much better outcome than you could alone.
Our Lighthouse Point, FL property damage lawyer has been litigating property damage disputes in South Florida for over 25 years. We represent Lighthouse Point homeowners, commercial property owners, and landlords on a pure contingency basis. No fees unless we win. Call us today to get started.
Why Choose The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers for Property Damage in Lighthouse Point?
She Spent Years on the Other Side
Maria O’Donnell founded The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers in 2014, but her background in property damage litigation stretches back much further. Before turning to plaintiff work, she ran one of the largest female-owned insurance defense firms in Florida, representing Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, State Farm, Allstate/Castle Key, Universal Property, Mercury, Travelers, and Esurance in property damage cases throughout Broward County and the rest of South Florida. She also managed sensitive Special Investigation Unit matters for those same carriers.
When a Lighthouse Point homeowner gets a denial letter citing pre-existing wear, a flood exclusion, or a late-notice defense, those are arguments attorneys like Ms. O’Donnell developed and refined while defending carriers. She knows how they are built. More importantly, she knows how they fall apart. Since 2014, she has applied that knowledge exclusively to getting Florida policyholders the property damage settlements they are owed.
She earned her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 2001 and has been a Florida Bar member since 2002. Her record includes establishing substantive published case law and a career built on results in Florida property damage litigation. As a property damage attorney in Lighthouse Point, FL, she brings that entire career history to every case we take.
Attorney David Edwards was recognized in the Top 40 Under 40 by the National Trial Lawyers Association for the civil plaintiff attorney division. The firm is listed with Martindale-Hubbell, one of the legal profession’s most established peer-review rating services.
A 99% Success Rate Across South Florida Property Damage Cases
Our firm has maintained a 99% success rate across residential and commercial property damage cases throughout Florida. We have helped policyholders across Broward County recover millions of dollars in proceeds that carriers initially refused to pay. We build cases fast and move quickly toward resolution, which is why our results tend to come in higher and faster than what policyholders recover navigating the process without counsel.
No Fee Unless We Win
Every property damage case and Lighthouse Point insurance dispute we handle is taken on full contingency. You pay nothing until we win. No retainers, no hourly charges, no invoices at any stage of the case. If we do not recover for you, you owe us nothing.
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“The Maria and her team know their stuff in this area of the law. They are professional, experienced, and client focused. They are strong advocates for the client. They guide the process. We trust them to mange the case strategy, yet, they take the time to listen and report to us.” — Phil Super
Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.
Types of Property Damage Cases We Handle in Lighthouse Point
Lighthouse Point property owners face a specific set of damage risks driven by this community’s coastal geography. Canal-front properties, older construction built before modern Florida Building Code standards, and direct exposure to Atlantic storms generate the kinds of complex, heavily disputed claims our attorneys handle every day.
- Residential property damage. Homeowners whose claims for hurricane damage, roof losses, wind-driven rain, water intrusion, fire, or structural failure have been denied, underpaid, or delayed. Lighthouse Point’s mix of waterfront homes and pre-2001 construction creates particular friction with carriers over cause of loss and scope of repairs.
- Insurance disputes. A denial letter from your carrier is their legal position, not a final judgment. When that position rests on a misapplied exclusion, an unsupported engineering conclusion, or a late-notice argument that overstates actual prejudice to the carrier, it can be challenged. We challenge them routinely.
- Hurricane and storm damage. After each South Florida hurricane season, Lighthouse Point homeowners deal with carriers who classify wind-driven rain as flood, attribute roof damage to salt-air deterioration rather than storm force, and offer estimates that do not reflect actual Broward County labor and material costs. We challenge those positions with contractor evidence, meteorological data, and policy analysis.
- Bad faith insurance. When a carrier’s handling of a Lighthouse Point property damage claim moves from aggressive adjustment into systematic dishonesty or willful delay, Florida law provides a remedy beyond the policy limits. We evaluate every file for bad faith potential and pursue those claims when the facts and law support them.
- Water intrusion and mold damage. Lighthouse Point’s proximity to both the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic, combined with South Florida’s year-round humidity, makes mold-related losses unusually common here. Carriers frequently cite fungi exclusions or attribute moisture damage to gradual seepage rather than a covered sudden event. We document cause of loss from the start and contest characterizations that do not reflect what actually happened.
- Dock, seawall, and waterfront structure damage. Canal-front properties in Lighthouse Point often sustain damage to docks, seawalls, boat lifts, and waterfront structures during storms and king tides. These components are frequently undervalued or ignored by standard adjusters. We include every covered element in the claim we build for you.
Florida Legal Requirements for Lighthouse Point Property Damage Cases
Lighthouse Point property damage disputes are governed by Florida’s statewide insurance statutes and litigated in Broward County’s 17th Judicial Circuit Court at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, approximately 15 miles from Lighthouse Point. These are the statutory rules every Lighthouse Point property owner needs to understand.
The one-year notice deadline. Under Florida Statute 627.70132, a new or reopened property insurance claim must be reported to your insurer within one year of the date of loss. For hurricane claims, that date is the storm’s landfall date as confirmed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Supplemental claims must be filed within 18 months. Lighthouse Point homeowners who discover interior water damage or mold weeks after a storm need to know this clock starts from the storm date, not the discovery date.
The 60-day pay-or-deny requirement. Under Florida Statute 627.70131, your insurer has 60 days after receiving notice of your claim to pay it, pay the undisputed portion, or issue a written denial citing specific policy language and applicable Florida law. Payments made after that deadline bear interest from the date the claim was filed. Salt-air corrosion arguments, repeated reinspection requests, and documentation demands that do not advance the investigation are tactics some South Florida carriers use to push past this deadline. When they fail to pay on time, we use that violation as leverage.
Replacement cost and ordinance coverage rights. Under Florida Statute 627.7011, insurers must offer replacement cost coverage for the dwelling and must offer law and ordinance coverage that pays additional costs to rebuild to current Broward County building code standards. Many Lighthouse Point homes were built in the 1960s and 1970s, well before the 2001 Florida Building Code revisions. Post-storm repairs on those properties frequently trigger code upgrade requirements. When carriers fail to honor ordinance and law provisions or improperly depreciate replacement cost payments, that is a dispute we know how to resolve.
The bad faith civil remedy. Under Florida Statute 624.155, a policyholder must file a Civil Remedy Notice with both the insurer and the Florida Department of Financial Services before pursuing a bad faith lawsuit. The carrier has 60 days to cure the alleged violation. If it does not, the lawsuit may proceed. Under Florida Statute 624.1551, a court judgment establishing breach of contract is a prerequisite before extracontractual bad faith damages can be pursued, but once obtained, the full range of remedies including damages beyond the policy limits becomes available.
What Damages Are Recoverable in a Lighthouse Point Property Damage Case?
Contractual damages. The full value of everything your policy was required to pay: repair and replacement costs for the structure, contents, additional living expenses during displacement, lost rental income if applicable, and code upgrade costs under ordinance and law provisions. For Lighthouse Point waterfront properties, this routinely includes dock and seawall repairs, boat lift replacement, and restoration of waterfront structures affected by the covered event.
Interest on late payments. Under Florida Statute 627.70131, payments made past the 60-day deadline bear interest from the date the claim was filed. That interest accumulates throughout a contested Lighthouse Point property damage dispute and is a recoverable component of your total claim.
Bad faith and extracontractual damages. When a carrier’s handling of your claim rises to the level of bad faith under Florida Statute 624.155, the available recovery exceeds the policy limits. Florida courts have awarded extracontractual damages where carriers denied valid claims without investigation, applied exclusions they knew did not fit, or deliberately delayed settlements to force discounted resolutions.
Punitive damages. Under Florida Statute 624.155, punitive damages may be awarded when the insurer’s conduct was willful, wanton, or in reckless disregard for the policyholder’s rights with enough frequency to indicate a general business practice. We pursue them when the evidence supports that threshold.
Contact The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers
If your Lighthouse Point property damage claim has been denied, underpaid, or delayed, the clock is already running. Florida’s one-year notice deadline begins from the date of loss, and the supplemental claim window closes at 18 months. When you work with The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers Property Damage Lawyers, you can trust our team to ensure all your legal actions are filed completely and on time, preserving your window for damages.
We offer free consultations for Lighthouse Point insurance claims and all residential and commercial property damage disputes throughout Broward County and South Florida. No upfront costs, no out-of-pocket fees, no payment of any kind unless our Lighthouse Point property damage lawyer wins. Contact us today to put over 25 years of South Florida insurance industry knowledge to work for your property damage claim.