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Licensed property and casualty insurance agent
10+ years editing experience
NPN: 20461358
Updated
Florida now has the highest average home insurance rates in the U.S., along with one of the fastest-growing non-renewal rates in the nation.[1] [2]
Home insurance in Florida averages $505 per month — well above the national monthly average of $239 — driven by frequent hurricanes, high claim costs, and litigation pressures.
In response to the mounting losses, lawmakers have passed reforms aimed at limiting lawsuit incentives and stabilizing the market over time. It’s important to understand what’s driving the insurance crisis and the practical steps you can take to manage your home insurance costs.
Florida’s insurance crisis stems from years of storm losses, litigation costs, inflation, and fraud.
Recent legal reforms may be stabilizing Florida’s market, but the state’s insurance premiums remain among the highest in the United States.
Strengthening your home against wind damage can expand your coverage options and lower your insurance costs.
Several major insurance companies, including Bankers Insurance Group and Lexington Insurance, have paused new policies, tightened underwriting rules, increased premiums, or exited the state entirely.
Repeated hurricane losses, rising reinsurance costs, and years of litigation costs mean these insurers can no longer sustainably provide home insurance to Floridians.
For homeowners, this means fewer insurance companies to choose from, higher premiums, and often higher deductibles that shift more risk to homeowners. Some homeowners must turn to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-backed insurer of last resort.
Citizens keeps coverage available, but it’s often more expensive. As a result, some homeowners have opted to leave the state or drop their insurance after paying off their mortgage, which is a risky move.
See real-time rates from top companies in your area.
Florida lawmakers have passed several reforms in recent years to try to stabilize the insurance market and encourage insurance companies to stay in the state. Here are some of the most significant legislative changes:
Natural Disaster Risk Reinsurance Act (2025): In late 2025, Rep. Jared Moskowitz reintroduced this bill at the federal level. If it passes, the law would create a federal catastrophic reinsurance to help insurance companies manage extreme storm and disaster risk more affordably. Moskowitz’s office estimates the bill could reduce insurance rates by roughly 25% and save the average Florida homeowner about $1,500 in the first year.[3]
Earlier state reforms (2019–2023): State lawmakers passed several bills to lower claim costs and reduce legal pressure on insurers. These reforms tightened claim-filing deadlines and limited certain attorney-fee incentives. They also created the temporary Reinsurance to Assist Policyholders (RAP) program in 2022 to provide state-backed reinsurance support after major storm losses.[4]
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Florida insurance companies get squeezed on several fronts, including severe weather losses, fraud, rising repair costs, and lawsuits that increase the cost of providing home insurance in the state.
When losses and legal costs climb faster than premiums, insurance companies stop writing new business, pull out of high-risk ZIP codes, or leave the state entirely. We saw this dynamic after major storms like hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024. The storms contributed to insured losses totaling billions of dollars in Florida.[5]
Here’s a closer look at the factors driving these exits.
From 2020 through 2024, Florida experienced 34 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, totaling between $100 and $200 billion in damages, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
These events add up as more homes are built in vulnerable coastal areas. Florida also faces non-hurricane events, like severe thunderstorms and wildfires, which further drive up claims and reinsurance expenses.
For years, Florida accounted for an outsized share of the nation’s homeowners insurance lawsuits, significantly increasing insurers’ legal costs.[6] In response, Florida lawmakers passed reforms to limit attorney-fee incentives and reduce litigation pressure on the market.
In 2022, SB 2D eliminated one-way attorney fees related to Assignments of Benefits (AOBs), which allow third parties to collect insurance benefits on behalf of a policyholder. The law also prohibited roofing contractors from paying or waiving insurance deductibles and reduced financial incentives tied to certain lawsuits.
The reforms led to a decline in lawsuits and an improvement in Florida’s property insurance market. Florida’s homeowners insurance Defense and Cost Containment Expense (DCCE) ratio fell to 3.4% in 2024, down from a high of 9.4% in 2022, according to Gallagher Re. While home insurance rates in Florida have started to stabilize, they remain higher than the national average.[7]
Even when a claim seems straightforward, inflation makes costs unpredictable. Inflation has increased the cost of repairing and rebuilding homes, which directly affects insurance pricing.
Consumer prices rose 2.4% nationwide over the 12 months ending in January 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During that same period, prices in the South region — including Florida — rose 1.9%.[8]
That difference matters because roof materials, lumber, labor, and permitting costs rise with more construction demand. If an $18,000 roof becomes a $20,000 roof, insurance companies must charge higher premiums to cover the same level of risk.
Fraud raises premiums and prompts insurers to set stricter coverage rules. Florida regulators receive thousands of insurance fraud referrals each year, and investigators pursue hundreds of cases, according to the Florida Department of Financial Services. Common property schemes include “free roof” offers and inflated damage estimates.
After a disaster, fraud can add 5% to 10% to total claims costs, and those added costs are ultimately reflected in insurance pricing.[9]
Insurance premium hikes have eased, and some insurers have proposed rate decreases for 2026 after years of double-digit hikes. This is a sign that reforms are working to temper cost pressures.
At the same time, Citizens Property Insurance’s policy load has dropped as private insurance companies take on more risk, bringing its number to the lowest level in recent years. These changes reduce the risk of a catastrophic storm hitting the state-backed insurer and triggering assessments on Florida policyholders.
Other states facing rising insurance costs, such as Louisiana, are looking to Florida’s approach as a potential model for reform.
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A cancellation or non-renewal notice can feel urgent, but you can usually keep coverage in place if you move quickly and stay organized. Here are a few steps to take:
Read the notice carefully. Note the effective cancellation date and the stated reason.
Call your insurance company or agent right away. Confirm whether you can fix the issue, such as a missed payment, inspection item, or roof documentation.
Shop the private market. Use a comparison website or an independent agent to compare several options.
Look into Citizens Property Insurance. Consider Citizens if you can’t find affordable home insurance in the private market.
Avoid a lapse in coverage. If you allow your coverage to lapse, your mortgage lender can force-place expensive insurance on you.
You can’t control the weather, but you can take steps to make your home less risky to insure, which can make your premiums more manageable. Here are a few ways to do just that:
Get a wind mitigation inspection. The resulting report outlines features that can help your home withstand extreme winds and identifies improvements that could make it more wind-resistant. Making these upgrades may help you qualify for insurance discounts.
Look into the My Safe Florida Home Program. This state-funded program offers free wind mitigation inspections and grants for approved upgrades.
Increase your deductible. Raising your deductible from $500 to $1,000 can reduce your home insurance premium by 10% to 25%.[10] Just make sure you have enough savings to cover higher out-of-pocket costs after a loss.
Review coverage limits. Avoid paying for coverage you don’t need.
Shop around every renewal. Compare quotes from multiple insurance companies to ensure you’re getting the best price on a policy that fits your coverage needs.
Compare quotes and get the coverage you need at the best price.
Florida’s insurance crisis may leave you with questions about higher costs and fewer coverage options. Here are answers to the most common questions homeowners have to help you understand what’s happening and what to do next.
Severe storms, increasingly costly hurricane seasons, expensive reinsurance, widespread lawsuits, and fraud have driven up insurance industry losses. Those costs flow into homeowners insurance premiums, making coverage more expensive across the state.
Insurance companies leave a state or area when claims, lawsuits, and reinsurance costs exceed the premiums they collect. Unpredictable hurricane seasons and legal exposure make Florida riskier than many other states.
It depends. Some homeowners say insurance costs factor into their decision to move out of Florida, but housing prices, taxes, and climate risk also play a role.
Florida residents pay an average of $505 per month for $300,000 in homeowners insurance with a $1,000 deductible, according to our data. That’s significantly higher than the national average of $239. Costs vary based on factors such as your location, roof age, claims history, property value, and other risk considerations.
If you can’t find coverage through a private insurance company, you can apply for Citizens Property Insurance as a last resort. Then, look for ways to improve your home’s insurability, such as installing storm shutters, reinforcing garage doors, and fortifying your roof. These steps may help you qualify for more affordable coverage through a private insurer in the future.
Compare.com data scientists analyzed rates from more than 180 home insurance companies sourced directly from Compare.com’s partner companies and Quadrant Information Services. Rates span all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and quote averages represent the mean price for a given coverage level and geographic area. To ensure data reliability, only insurers meeting minimum quote thresholds were included in the analysis.
Unless otherwise specified, quoted rates reflect the average cost for homeowners with no prior claims and good credit with a home construction year of 1980. The default coverage assumptions include:
Additional data points beyond these default values are sourced from Compare.com’s proprietary database. Rates are updated monthly.
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Licensed property and casualty insurance agent
10+ years editing experience
NPN: 20461358
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