Insurance Check Made Out to You and Your Mortgage Company

By Nelson Avila, Licensed Florida Public Adjuster (License G332385) · Florida Certified Contractor
Homeland Public Adjusters · Last reviewed: October 2026

Your lender has a stake in the house, so it's on the check

Short answer: If you have a mortgage, the insurance check for damage to your home is usually made out to you and your lender together, because the lender has a financial interest in the house. The lender typically endorses the check and holds the money, releasing it in stages as repairs are completed. Payments for your belongings and living expenses generally should go to you.

Why the lender is on the check

Your mortgage requires you to insure the home and names the lender on the policy as mortgagee. When the insurer pays for damage to the structure, it includes the lender as a payee so the money goes toward restoring the property that secures the loan.

How lenders usually release the money

Mortgage servicers handle insurance proceeds through a department often called "loss drafts" or "insurance claims." Depending on the size of the claim and the loan's rules, the servicer may endorse the check and release all of it, or deposit it and release it in installments as repairs progress, often after an inspection.

What Florida law says

Florida's Fla. Stat. §494.0026 applies to mortgage lenders and servicers licensed under Chapter 494 (not every bank). It requires them to promptly endorse a joint insurance check, to deposit proceeds for the structure and for contents that secure the loan in a separate account at a federally insured institution, and to promptly pay you proceeds for contents that don't secure the loan and for additional living expenses. The statute does not set a number of days.

What New Jersey says

The NJ Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) explains that claim checks are usually made payable to both the homeowner and the mortgage company, and that the lender may release the money at once or in installments as repairs progress, depending on the size of the claim and investor rules, and may order inspections. DOBI's advice is to contact your servicer right away.

Steps that keep the money moving

Call the servicer's loss draft department early and ask for its requirements in writing.

Check what each payment is for. If a check for contents or living expenses includes the lender, ask the insurer whether it can be reissued to you alone.

Send complete packages and keep copies and tracking numbers.

If the mortgage is paid off, send the insurer the lender's lien release or payoff letter and ask for the check to be reissued.

Homeland helps policyholders in Kendall, Orlando and Jersey City get the mortgage endorsement process moving.

Frequently asked questions

Homeland helps clients assemble what servicers ask for and coordinate the claim payments with the repair schedule, so a held check doesn't hold up the repairs.

This article is for general information only and is not legal or insurance advice. Statutes, regulations and policy wording change, and how they apply depends on your own policy and the facts of your claim. Homeland Public Adjusters is a public adjusting firm, not a law firm.

Still Have Questions About Your Property Insurance Claim?

Every loss and every claim has its own circumstances. Call us 24/7 to talk through yours, or request a free claim review.