At 11:05 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, October 7, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation stopped binding new policies and coverage increases across Florida. At noon on Friday, Santa Rosa County shut off water to every home and business on Navarre Beach, citing a predicted storm surge of up to 9 feet and a Category 2 landfall. At 5 a.m. Saturday, Citizens lifted the suspension and said all regular business operations had resumed.
If you have a Navarre home under contract, that Saturday notice reads like an all-clear. It restarts one clock out of three. A pending sale moves when the slowest of the three clears: the insurers covering the buyer, the Force Majeure window in the contract, and the 1.5% cap on storm repairs. Below is how each one works and why they rarely line up.
Every carrier and every policy sets its own restart time
The Citizens timeline is the one most people hear about because it's public and it moved quickly: about 66 hours from suspension to lift. Other carriers post their own notices on their own schedules, and coverage lines don't move together.
FRS Flood posted a temporary flood binding moratorium for designated areas. Santa Rosa County is on its Florida list along with 16 other counties. The notice says binding comes back only once the moratorium is lifted and no flood is in progress. Renewals can continue as long as nothing changes in coverage, deductibles or property characteristics. The notice gives no calendar start date and no lift date.
Velocity Risk is an E&S commercial-property underwriter, so it isn't the carrier on a typical single-family homeowners policy. It posted a moratorium effective noon Central on October 7. Its Florida list included Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Escambia and Bay counties, among others. Under its published policy, no new quotes go out and outstanding quotes can't be bound. Renewals and endorsements go to underwriting review, and a post-event no-loss certification "may be required." Its Isaias notice gave no lift date.
None of these notices shows a pause by every homeowners insurer in Florida. What they do show is that a Navarre buyer can carry a wind or homeowners policy with a carrier that's open again while a separate flood policy, or a carrier on a different schedule, is still frozen. Lifting one doesn't lift the others.
The contract treats insurance as part of closing
This is where the insurance clock and the contract clock meet. In the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar AS IS Residential Contract, Paragraph 5(b) says that if a Force Majeure event makes services essential to closing unavailable, the Closing Date is extended under Standard G. Those services include utilities and the issuance of "hazard, wind, flood or homeowners' insurance."
Standard G names hurricanes and floods as Force Majeure events. It says the event begins on the first day it prevents performance or the availability of insurance essential to closing. All affected deadlines, the Closing Date included, extend "a reasonable time up to 7 days after the Force Majeure event no longer prevents performance." If the event keeps preventing performance more than 30 days beyond the Closing Date, either party can terminate in writing and the buyer's deposit is refunded.
The wording matters for timing. The seven days count from when the event stops getting in the way, not from when the storm leaves or when Citizens reopens. Because the contract lists flood insurance and utilities as essential services, a still-frozen flood carrier or a property without water can keep that window open after the Citizens notice.
Florida Realtors released a revised AS IS form, ASIS-7x, in February 2026, with forms available beginning February 27. According to Florida Realtors, the update changed Standard I(iii) for FinCEN reporting. Standard G and Standard M read the same in the 2026 redline as in the December 2024 version. Your own deal is governed by the form and any addenda you actually signed.
| Clock | What starts it | What stops it | Where it's written |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance binding | Each carrier's suspension notice | Each carrier's lift notice, sometimes with conditions | Carrier bulletins |
| Closing Date extension | First day the storm prevents performance or insurance | Up to 7 days after it no longer does; termination right after 30 days past closing | AS IS Paragraph 5(b) and Standard G |
| Storm damage | Casualty after the Effective Date | Repair, escrow, or buyer's election above 1.5% | AS IS Standard M |
The 1.5% repair line is smaller than it sounds
Standard M, "Risk of Loss," covers damage that happens after the Effective Date but before closing. If the cost to restore is no more than 1.5% of the purchase price, the seller pays for it and the closing goes ahead. If the work isn't done by closing, 125% of the estimated remaining cost is held in escrow, capped at 1.5% of the price. If restoration costs more than 1.5%, the buyer chooses between taking the property "as is" along with the 1.5% or getting the deposit back, which releases both parties.
Here's a sense of scale. The Pensacola Association of REALTORS® reported an association-wide median sale price of $325,000 for August 2026. That figure covers the whole association, not Navarre alone. At that price, 1.5% is $4,875.
Trees are what make that number tight after this storm. Standard M counts the cost of pruning or removing damaged trees as part of restoration, and the seller's only obligation for tree damage is pruning or removal. At 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Santa Rosa County said most county roads were impassable because of downed trees or power lines. On a lot with mature pines, tree removal plus a fence section or a roof repair can push a home near or past the 1.5% line. Which side of the line the estimate lands on decides who pays and whether the buyer gets the walk-away choice.
Why the Navarre Beach water shutoff matters to a closing
Navarre Beach shows how these clauses play out in practice. As of Saturday's update, the county said crews would assess the water system once it was safe and gave no restoration time. A precautionary boil-water notice will follow once service comes back, and the county asked people not to return to the beach before crews assess conditions. The county's storm notice also closed the Navarre Beach Pier on October 9 and 10.
Under Standard L, the seller has to provide utility service and access for appraisals, inspections and a walk-through before closing. Paragraph 5(b) lists unavailable utilities as a Force Majeure condition. So for a beach condo or house under contract, the date water comes back is a closing date too, and it has nothing to do with any insurer's bulletin. On the mainland, the same applies to whether an appraiser or inspector can reach the property while roads are being cleared.
The facts that show which clock is last
Every deal is different, but these questions usually show which of the three clocks is holding things up:
- Which carrier writes each policy the buyer needs, including wind, homeowners and any separate flood policy?
- Has each carrier lifted its suspension, and does the lift require a no-loss certification or underwriting review first?
- Has the property been damaged since the Effective Date, and what's the written restoration estimate, tree work included?
- How does that estimate compare with 1.5% of this contract's purchase price?
- Does the property have utility service and access for the appraisal, inspection and walk-through?
- Which contract form and revision was signed, and how far is today from the original Closing Date plus 30 days?
Answers to the first two come from the buyer's insurance agent and lender. The fourth depends on a contractor's estimate. The sixth is in the contract itself. This is how the process works, not legal or insurance advice, and a real estate attorney is the right person to ask how your specific contract applies.
Quick answers
Does the Citizens lift on October 10 mean my closing is back on? Only if Citizens is the one policy holding things up. FRS Flood's notice covering Santa Rosa County had no lift date posted, and other carriers publish on their own schedules.
Can either party cancel because of the storm? Under Standard G of the AS IS form, either party can terminate in writing if the Force Majeure event keeps preventing performance more than 30 days beyond the Closing Date, and the deposit goes back to the buyer.
Does a fallen tree count toward the 1.5%? Yes. Standard M counts the cost of pruning or removing damaged trees in the restoration total, and limits the seller's tree obligation to that pruning or removal.
If your Navarre sale was under contract when Isaias came through, I'll go through it with you line by line: each carrier's status, the repair estimate against your 1.5% line, and the real dates under Standard G. Military families on PCS orders can't wait on a stalled closing, and as an MRP-certified Marine veteran, keeping those timelines on track is my job. Book a free consultation with Chris Closes and we'll figure out which clock your deal is actually waiting on.
