Florida AOB vs. Public Adjuster

An assignment of benefits is an agreement in which a policyholder transfers some or all of the post-loss benefits of a property insurance policy to a third party — typically a contractor, restoration company, or water-mitigation firm — so that the third party can pursue payment directly from the insurer. Florida defines the AOB framework in Fla. Stat. §627.7152. Under §627.7152(13), as amended by the 2022 SB 2-A reforms, a policyholder may not assign post-loss benefits under a residential property insurance policy, or under a commercial property policy issued on or after January 1, 2023, and any attempt to do so is void, invalid, and unenforceable. By contrast, hiring a public adjuster does not transfer your claim to anyone — the adjuster represents you.

Florida’s 2019 reform (HB 7065) created §627.7152 and §627.7153. It set rules for AOB agreements — they had to be in writing, allow the policyholder to rescind within 14 days, require the assignee to deliver a copy to the insurer within 3 business days, include an indemnify-and-hold-harmless provision, and give 10 business days’ written pre-suit notice. It also created §627.7153, letting insurers sell policies that restrict assignment only if they also offer an unrestricted version. The 2022 reform (SB 2-A) went much further: §627.7152(13) now prohibits assigning post-loss benefits under residential policies, and under commercial policies issued on or after January 1, 2023, and makes any attempted assignment void. Legal interpretation of how these provisions apply to a specific policy is a question for a licensed attorney.

A licensed public adjuster, regulated under Fla. Stat. §626.854, is your representative — they inspect the damage, prepare a line-item estimate, document the loss, and negotiate the claim amount with the carrier on your behalf. You keep ownership of your claim and the insurer pays you. An AOB instead transfers the post-loss benefits themselves to a contractor or vendor, who then deals with the insurer in place of you. A public adjuster’s compensation is also capped by statute (generally 20% of the recovery, or 10% on a claim tied to a Governor-declared state of emergency made within one year of the declaration). An AOB has no such statutory fee cap on the third party’s charges.

Yes. Under Fla. Stat. §626.854(11), a public adjuster’s fee generally may not exceed 20% of the insurance claim payment. For a claim based on events that are the subject of a Governor-declared state of emergency, the cap is 10% if the claim is made within one year after the declaration. The statute also caps supplemental and reopened claims at 20% and provides that these fees are exclusive of attorney fees. These caps protect the policyholder; an AOB is governed by §627.7152, not by the §626.854 fee cap.

Yes. The 2022 prohibition in §627.7152(13) restricts assigning post-loss benefits to a third party such as a contractor — it does not restrict your right to hire a licensed public adjuster to represent you under §626.854. A public adjuster does not take an assignment of your benefits; you remain the policyholder and the insurer pays you directly. Whether any particular agreement counts as a prohibited assignment is a legal question best confirmed with a licensed attorney.