Les Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Written By Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Deputy Editor, Insurance Jason Metz Lead Editor, InsuranceAs a former claims handler and fraud investigator, Jason Metz has worked on a multitude of complex and multifaceted claims. The insurance industry can be seemingly opaque, and Jason enjoys breaking down confusing terms and products to help others mak.
Jason Metz Lead Editor, InsuranceAs a former claims handler and fraud investigator, Jason Metz has worked on a multitude of complex and multifaceted claims. The insurance industry can be seemingly opaque, and Jason enjoys breaking down confusing terms and products to help others mak.
Jason Metz Lead Editor, InsuranceAs a former claims handler and fraud investigator, Jason Metz has worked on a multitude of complex and multifaceted claims. The insurance industry can be seemingly opaque, and Jason enjoys breaking down confusing terms and products to help others mak.
Jason Metz Lead Editor, InsuranceAs a former claims handler and fraud investigator, Jason Metz has worked on a multitude of complex and multifaceted claims. The insurance industry can be seemingly opaque, and Jason enjoys breaking down confusing terms and products to help others mak.
| Lead Editor, Insurance
Updated: Mar 6, 2024, 12:59pm
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
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Homeowners in every state have to wrestle with home insurance issues, but Florida homeowners especially have to tackle rising costs and some insurers no longer offering coverage in the state. We provide the latest information, average home insurance costs and guidance on what to do if your Florida home insurance company goes out of business or doesn’t renew your policy.
The average cost of Florida home insurance is $2,030 a year for a typical house with $350,000 in dwelling coverage. The cheapest Florida home insurance company for this level of coverage is Progressive, based on Forbes Advisor’s analysis of 12 insurers in the state. See more average costs below.
It’s wise to compare home insurance quotes to find the most affordable rates, but don’t rely on price alone to make your decision. The best home insurance company for you will also provide the types of coverage and home insurance discounts that match your homeowner profile.
Several factors can determine your ability to obtain cheap home insurance in Florida, including:
All of these factors are taken into account by insurers when pricing policies. But the cost for the same amount of coverage can vary significantly among insurance companies. That’s why it’s wise to compare home insurance quotes from multiple insurance companies.
Florida’s population is heading for 22 million and it accounts for just 8% of property claims nationwide. But Florida has more than three-quarters of all property claims lawsuits, many of which lawmakers say are frivolous.
Florida home insurance companies often face a no-win situation when they fight an insurance claim in court, thanks to the state’s Assignment of Benefits (AOB) law. AOB allows a homeowner to turn his or her claim over to a contractor instead of dealing with the insurer. The contractor can then hire an attorney, often before talking to the insurance company.
Florida law states that if the lawyer wins a dollar more than the insurer offered, the insurer must not only pay the claim—which the contractor may have inflated—but also all legal costs, which could be thousands of dollars for a claim that might have originally been a few hundred. In one case cited by State Rep. Bob Rommel, the homeowner received $35,000; the attorney got $756,000.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said that the state’s AOB system “has really degenerated into a racket.”
Roofing contractors are aggressive in contacting Florida homeowners who may—or may not—have actual roof damage. They can be so aggressive that they put flyers on every doorknob in many neighborhoods, while offering $500 gift cards. The situation became so bad that the state legislature passed a law, signed by Gov. DeSantis, restricting contractors from using “prohibited advertisements” to encourage homeowners filing insurance claims for roof damage.
But a federal judge slapped an injunction on the law when a roofing contractor said it violated his First Amendment right to free speech. And other roofing contractors subsequently joined the lawsuit, which hasn’t yet been decided.
One major complaint is that insurers are trying to ward off the threat of having to pay for new roofs by rejecting customers who have asphalt shingle roofs that are more than 10 years old.
The legal hammering the state is taking could make things even worse. “Florida’s insurance market is spiraling toward collapse,” says a report commissioned by the Florida Senate’s Banking and Insurance Committee.
March 6, 2024: Another 54,000 Citizens Property Insurance Corp. policyholders are being transferred to private insurance companies.
Slide Insurance is taking 25,000 Citizens policyholders, American Integrity is getting 19,000 policies and Security First is picking up 10,000. The policies are slated to get transferred to the private insurance companies in May.
The move is the latest nudge by the state to move policyholders from the state’s insurer of last resort to private insurance companies.
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently warned that Citizens isn’t “solvent.” The governor worried that a major storm could cause problems for the state having to pay claims for Citizens policyholders, but Citizens CEO Tim Cerio said the insurer has $4.5 billion in reverse and would be able to pay claims.
Jan. 26, 2024: A Florida Senate committee gave the green light to let Citizens Property Insurance Corp. offer home insurance policies for high-value properties.
The change, voted unanimously by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, would allow Citizens to sell home insurance for homes valued over $700,000. As the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens currently can’t sell policies for $700,000 or more except in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, which have a $1 million limit.
The new measure would increase Citizens’ dwelling coverage options to $1 million across the state if private insurance companies don’t offer similar coverage.
The legislation still needs to get approval from the House and Senate and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature. That’s not a slam dunk. The legislature has approved measures over the past two years to reduce eligibility for Citizens after it saw its policyholder number balloon to 1.3 million when multiple home insurance companies went out of business or stopped selling policies in Florida.
Dec. 1, 2023: Florida’s insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., is being investigated by the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. The committee is looking into the financial stability of Citizens, which is the state’s largest home insurance provider.
The move comes after Florida officials, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, have raised concerns about the size of the insurer of last resort. Experts warn that the state insurer may struggle to handle a major weather event.
Citizens going insolvent would cause more upheaval in the Florida home insurance market and likely lead to the federal government having to bail out the program.
Citizens has grown to 1.3 million policyholders as insurance companies have left the state, stopped selling policies or went out of business. In response to Citizens’ growth, Florida legislatures passed legislation geared to reduce Citizens’ policyholder numbers and hundreds of thousands of Citizens policyholders have been moved to other insurers like Slide Insurance. But concerns remain about the insurer’s financial stability.
Nov. 13, 2023: Florida homeowners have more home insurance company options as state regulators have approved five new home insurance companies this year:
These new entrants follow seven home insurance company insolvencies between February 2022 and February 2023. The Florida Legislature responded to the home insurance market upheaval with multiple legislative packages that sought to stabilize the market, lower costs for insurers and move policyholders away from the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance. Citizens grew to 1.3 million policyholders at the end of 2022 and was the top insurer by market share in the state.
The new home insurance companies may also help offset the loss of major insurers like Farmers Insurance and Progressive, which both announced last month that they’re not renewing home policies in Florida.
Oct. 17, 2023: Tampa-based Slide Insurance is taking on 86,000 Farmers Insurance homeowners policies in Florida following Farmers’ announcement that it’s ending home insurance coverage in the state. Renewals with Slide will begin in February 2024.
Farmers said in June that its decision was connected to higher building and labor costs, and inventory and supply demand problems, which led to higher home insurance claim costs.
Earlier this year, Slide Insurance, founded in 2021, also took on 126,000 Citizens Property Insurance policies, the state’s insurer of last resort.
Oct. 3, 2023: Progressive is not renewing 100,000 home policyholders in Florida, which is about half of its home insurance business in the state. The company expects to send non-renewal notices to affected homeowners starting in December.
Progressive plans to move many of those policies to Loggerhead, a Tampa-based insurance company that launched in 2022. Homeowners can go with Loggerhead or decide to go with another company.
Progressive is the latest home insurance company that has shed policies or left the state. The Legislature approved insurance reforms earlier this year in hopes of stabilizing the home insurance market, but insurers continue to look for ways to shed costs in Florida.
Aug. 22, 2023: The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation requested that Citizens Property Insurancerework its proposed home insurance premium increase for 2024. Regulators suggested increasing multi-peril home insurance rates by 12% on average for the coming year rather than the higher increase that Citizens proposed in June—12.5% on average for the coming year.
The 12% average rate increase is the maximum allowed by law for multi-peril policies, such as HO-3 home insurance, which is the most common type of policy. But increases can be higher if they’re connected to inflation in the labor and building materials markets.
State regulators gave Citizens 30 days to revise its rate hike proposal, which is expected to take effect in December.
Aug. 16, 2023: Florida homeowners will soon have another home insurance option. The state’s Office of Insurance Regulation approved Mainsail Insurance, a Texas-based insurance company, to sell property/casualty insurance in the Sunshine State.
The state earlier approved Tailrow Insurance in April. Tailrow is part of the HCI Group, which also owns Homeowners Choice and TypTap Insurance.
The new entrants to Florida come after multiple home insurance companies went out of business, stopped selling new Florida policies or left the state. The moves also come on the heels of multiple home insurance reform packages approved by the legislature that looked to tackle home insurance costs and add industry oversight.
The state is additionally looking to reduce the size of the state’s last resort home insurer, Citizens Property Insurance. The insurance company has grown to 1.3 million policyholders this year because of the industry’s instability in Florida. The Office of Insurance Regulation said on Aug. 14 that 280,000 Citizens Property Insurance policies will be moved to private insurance companies through October 2023.
Aug. 2, 2023: About 184,000 Citizens Property Insurancepolicyholders are being moved to five different property insurance companies:
Citizens policyholders who are being transferred to other companies will be notified by mail. Policyholders who are moved to other insurers can’t refuse the move unless the new company will charge over 20% more compared to what Citizens is charging.
The provision is part of recently enacted Florida property insurance reform measures, which included attempts to reduce the size of the Citizens. The insurer’s membership grew to 1.3 million policyholders after multiple insurance companies went out of business, left the state or stopped selling policies in Florida.
The news about the transfer of 184,000 Citizens policyholders comes two months after 26,000 Citizens policies were transferred to Slide, a Tampa-based insurance company founded in 2021, and 1,000 policies were given to Loggerhead Reciprocal Interinsurance Exchange.
July 17, 2023: AAA is dropping coverage for a small number of Florida homeowners. AAA blamed the decision on the 2022 hurricane season, which it says “drastically raised operational costs” for insurance companies in Florida.
Last year, AM Best raised AAA’s Florida-based insurance company Auto Club Insurance Company’s Financial Strength Rating from A- (Excellent) to A (Excellent). At the time—before the 2022 hurricane season—Jennifer Pintacuda, president of AAA’s Florida-based insurance companies, spoke of insurance coverage problems in Florida.
“Every day we hear about insurance carriers that have stopped writing new business, are not renewing policies, or simply pulling out of the Florida market altogether. AAA is not doing that in Florida, and our updated insurance rating reinforces our reputation as an insurance provider that Floridians can count on,” Pintacuda said.
Though AAA’s move isn’t expected to affect as many policyholders as the recent news that Farmers is ceasing home insurance sales sold by captive agents in Florida, AAA’s move is the latest in a series of insurers citing issues in The Sunshine State.
July 12, 2023: Farmers is ceasing the sale of homeowners, auto and umbrella insurance policies sold by captive agents in Florida, reported AM Best. Captive agents are professionals who sell policies for a specific insurer or group of insurers. By contrast, independent agents can connect customers with a variety of insurance companies and quotes.
Farmers has about 90 captive agents in Florida and the company estimates the move will affect 30% of Farmers’ group business in the state. Insurance companies must give policyholders 120 days notice before non-renewing a home insurance policy in Florida.
The decision won’t impact group business by Farmers subsidiaries Bristol West, Foremost Signature, Foremost Choice and Foremost-branded personal property lines, which include home insurance. Farmers GroupSelect property policies, which are part of employee benefit programs, will also not be affected.
June 15, 2023: Farmers has stopped selling new home insurance policies in Florida. Farmers is the fifth largest home insurer in the nation but only the 16th largest in Florida, where it has a market share of less than 2% in the homeowners insurance market.
Farmers said the decision comes following higher prices connected to lumber and labor costs, and inventory and supply demand problems. That combination is leading to higher home insurance claim costs, which the company said is affecting profitability.
The Woodland Hills, California-based insurance company is the latest property insurance company to stop selling home insurance policies or completely leave the state. The insurance market instability has forced many Floridians to search for other home insurance companies. It’s also led the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance, to jump to 1.3 million policyholders.
June 9, 2023: The state’s insurer of last resort Citizens Property Insurance proposed a 12.6% statewide average rate hike for standard home insurance policies in 2023. Citizens is requesting the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation let the company increase overall rates by 13.1% across its personal insurance policies, including homeowners, condominium and renters insurance.
The rate hike would go into effect on Nov. 1.
Tim Cerio, president/CEO and executive director at Citizens, says the company’s insurance rates are too low and the proposed increases will help stabilize the state’s home insurance market. Citizens’ current rates “are artificially low, which throws off the private market and distorts competition,” Cerio adds.
Florida law caps individual Citizens rate increases to 12%, but premiums can be higher because of inflation in the labor and building materials markets. Citizens can also increase rates by as much as 50% for non-primary residences, according to Citizens.
In other Citizens news, the company is reportedly transferring 26,000 insurance policies to private insurance companies. The move will send 25,000 policies to insurance company Slide, a Tampa-based insurance company founded in 2021, and 1,000 policies to Loggerhead Reciprocal Interinsurance Exchange, another insurance startup in Florida.
The move comes after the state’s insurer of last resort saw the number of its policies balloon to 1.3 million as multiple insurance companies went out of business, left the state or stopped selling policies in Florida.
As part of the insurance reforms passed in December, Citizens policyholders must agree to private home insurance policies if the rates are within 20% of the cost of Citizens’ premiums. That was one of the provisions in the legislation that sought to limit Citizens eligibility as a way to reduce the insurer’s size.
June 1, 2023: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed three bills approved by the legislature that seek to improve homeowner protections, add mitigation discounts and expand eligibility for the My Safe Florida Home Program.
The three pieces of legislation will:
These measures are the latest attempts by state officials to tackle rising home insurance costs and add industry oversight.
May 5, 2023: Flood insurance rates are expected to skyrocket in South Florida. That includes parts of Palm Beach County, where homeowners may pay triple for new flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The rate increases are connected to a new FEMA program called Risk Rating 2.0, which bases rates on an individual property’s risks, not flood maps. FEMA looks at characteristics like rainfall, rebuilding costs, coastal erosion and the home’s distance to a water source.
FEMA’s new flood insurance rates correct a problem in which policyholders with lower-valued homes paid “more than their share of the risk,” while people with higher-valued homes paid less, says FEMA.
“Because Risk Rating 2.0 considers rebuilding costs, FEMA can equitably distribute premiums across all policyholders based on home value and a property’s unique flood risk,” according to FEMA.
Though new flood insurance costs may double or triple in parts of South Florida, current flood insurance policyholders won’t likely see substantial rate increases immediately. Current policies can only increase by as much as 18% annually in most instances.
April 18, 2023: Tailrow Insurance Co. may soon offer homeowners insurance in Florida after the state Office of Insurance Regulation approved the company’s application. Tailrow is the first property insurance company approved by the state since the legislature passed a legislative package that seeks to stabilize Florida’s home insurance market.
Tailrow Insurance is owned by HCI Group, which also operates Homeowners Choice and TypTap Insurance.
April 18, 2023: Florida homeowners will pay an additional 1% on their home insurance costs for an emergency assessment to offset claims costs from policyholders of insolvent insurance companies. Homeowners will begin seeing the emergency assessment fee on their bills starting in October.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky approved a request from the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), which handles claims from insolvent companies. The FIGA Board of Directors said the fee is needed to help cover the liquidation costs for United Property & Casualty Insurance Co.
April 6, 2023: Florida legislators are taking aim at insurance companies by proposing more oversight and increased fines against insurers.
A bill called Insurer Accountability would:
The state Senate’s Banking and Insurance Committee voted favorably on the bill, 8-0, on April 5, but it still has to go through both houses to become law.
March 31, 2023: Citizens Insurance is increasing its Florida home insurance rates by an average of 14.2% in 2023. Florida restricts Citizens’ rate hikes to 12% in 2023 for primary residences, but allows premium increases of up to 50% on non-primary residences.
Citizens, the state’s insurer of last resort, has taken on a bigger role in the home insurance market as companies have left the state, stopped selling new policies or gone out of business. Citizens Insurance now has over 1.2 million homeowners and that’s expected to reach 1.5 million policyholders by the end of the year.
Citizens Insurance’s President and CEO Tim Cerio said the insurer’s rates are too low compared to private insurers and that Citizens has grown too large over the past two years. Citizens said its statewide average premium is 44% lower than the average of nine private insurance companies that serve Florida.
March 27, 2023: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed tort reform legislation on March 24 that supporters say will target legal system abuse that has led to ballooning insurance costs in Florida.
DeSantis said the legislation will help reverse problems with Florida’s legal system and put it more in line with the rest of the country. The move is the latest in a series of attempts by the State House to reverse the trend of increasing insurance costs.
Dec. 16, 2022: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation into law that will tackle multiple Florida property insurance issues, including litigation costs, fraud, claims payments, flood insurance, insurance companies’ financial stability and the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens.
Oct. 24, 2022: The Florida legislature is expected to hold another special session to tackle home insurance following the Nov. 8 election. Gov. Ron DeSantis did not offer specific measures for the upcoming session or a date.
The move comes after Hurricane Ian decimated parts of the state and struck another blow to the teetering home insurance industry.
Earlier this year, the legislature held another special session focused on home insurance. That special session resulted in passed legislation that allowed deductibles for roof insurance claims, prohibited insurance companies from denying coverage for a home with a roof less than 15 years old, prohibited insurers from automatically declining homeowners insurance for houses with older roofs, created a $2 billion reinsurance program to help struggling home insurance companies, provided money to help Floridians stormproof their residences, limited legal costs involving homeowners insurance lawsuits and required older high-rise condos to have safety inspections every 10 years.
Sept. 29, 2022: As portions of the state deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier issued an emergency order that will prevent home insurance companies from dropping customers until Nov. 28, 2022.
The move also prevents insurance companies from dropping customers whose properties were damaged by the Category 4 hurricane. That provision doesn’t allow cancellations or non-renewals for at least 90 days after the properties are repaired.
Gov. Ron DeSantis says he expects the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., won’t have issues paying out property damage claims related to the hurricane. Citizens’ membership has skyrocketed to nearly 1.1 million members as home insurance companies have fled the state or gone out of business.
Sept. 7, 2022: State regulators are exploring whether to increase the maximum homeowners insurance policies given by the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Citizens Property only offers replacement coverage for homes up to $700,000 in most of the state. Miami-Dade and Monroe counties have higher limits.
The potential move comes as thousands of Florida homeowners have been forced to get a Citizens Property policy after losing coverage when their home insurance company stopped offering policies in Florida or went out of business.
Aug. 26, 2022: United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. (UPC Insurance) says it has filed plans to withdraw from Florida, Louisiana and Texas. It also intends to withdraw in New York. The withdrawals will mean that UPC ceases operations.
Aug. 8, 2022: Weston Property and Casualty Insurance became the fifth homeowners insurance company serving Florida to go out of business this year.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation referred the insurance company to receivership last week. Demotech, a rating agency, also withdrew Weston Property and Casualty Insurance’s rating from “A” exceptional to “NR” no rating.
Weston’s approximately 20,000 Florida customers have 30 days to find home insurance elsewhere. Florida Insurance Guaranty Association will handle Weston’s outstanding claims.
July 25, 2022: Bankers Insurance is the latest homeowners insurance company to say it’s dropping some policies in the Sunshine State. The company is blaming the state for not properly tackling the Florida’s teetering home insurance market.
The legislature held a special session to address the home insurance issues in May, including a $2 billion reinsurance program, deductibles for roof insurance claims, limiting legal costs in homeowners insurance lawsuits and provisions to help homeowners. Bankers Insurance doesn’t think the legislation went far enough to help homeowners insurance companies with fraud and litigation.
Bankers Insurance Group’s decision is expected to affect about 25,000 policyholders. Despite dropping homeowners and dwelling fire coverage, the company expects to continue to provide commercial property insurance, flood insurance, builders risk insurance and renters insurance in Florida.
July 22, 2022: Seventeen property insurance companies will have their Financial Stability Ratings downgraded by Demotech, the Florida insurance rating agency, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
The move comes following a review of 2022 hurricane season reinsurance. Demotech reportedly informed insurers about downgrades from A (Exceptional) to S (Substantial) or M (Moderate).
The ratings allow insurance companies to operate in Florida. If insurers lose their A or better ratings, policyholders with mortgages may have to look for new home insurance companies. Mortgage lenders sometimes require home insurance from a highly rated company.
July 14, 2022: Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state’s insurer of last resort, has canceled homeowners insurance policies on houses that would cost more than $700,000 to replace.
As building costs and property values have skyrocketed, Citizens reportedly dropped 2,267 policies with replacement value of over $700,000 over the past year. All but two counties in Florida cap homeowners coverage at $700,000.
Thousands of Floridians have had to scramble to find new homeowners insurance after their insurers were liquidated, went out of business or simply stopped selling policies in the state.
The state’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis lists 13 Florida insurers in liquidation—and that doesn’t include the insurance companies that simply closed up shop in the state.
The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) is the state program that temporarily handles payments and claims involving insolvent property and casualty insurance companies. Here’s what happens if your insurance company becomes insolvent and files for bankruptcy.
What happens if your homeowners insurance company enters into liquidation within days of a fire damaging your home? Here’s how to file a claim with the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association.
Florida homeowners face issues not found in other states. Here are common problems and how they impact home insurance.
Florida homeowners pay the highest premium in the U.S. at an average of $4,231 per year, more than triple the U.S. average, according to Mark Friedlander, spokesperson at the Insurance Information Institute.
Average year-over-year increases are about 33% in Florida compared to the 9% that you see with the national average, says Friedlander. Some homeowners are seeing renewal rates of over 50% to 100%.
Florida homeowners who have lost coverage because their insurers have gone out of business or stopped renewing policies often struggle to find coverage in the private market. Many homeowners are turning to the “last resort” option, Citizens Property Insurance Corp..
In 2002, the Florida legislature created Citizens, a government organization that offers home insurance to Florida homeowners who cannot get coverage elsewhere. It is the state’s insurer of last resort.
Many Florida homeowners can’t qualify for coverage with a private insurer and Citizens has become a more common way to get coverage.
But not all homeowners can qualify for a policy through Citizens. For example, dwellings with a replacement cost of $700,000 or higher and single condo units with combined dwellings and replacement cost of $700,000 or higher are ineligible for a policy. Homeowners in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties have a maximum replacement cost limit of less than $1 million through Citizens.
Home insurance costs and property values are pushing many Floridians to sell their homes because they can no longer afford insurance, says Friedlander at the Insurance Information Institute.
“This includes long-time homeowners, retirees, fixed-income individuals and lower-income families lacking the disposable income to afford the spike in coverage costs,” Friedlander says.
No matter where you live, insurance companies could decline to sell you coverage due to risk, but Florida has unique factors that may cause a denial—many of which are outside your control as a Florida homeowner.
A home with previous claims is a red flag to insurance companies. Even if you have never submitted an insurance claim, you could be penalized due to the past claims of the previous owner.
This issue is now a significant component of denying coverage due to the current Florida insurance climate, says Friedlander.
Even if your home is insurable and you don’t have a claim history, insurance companies could choose not to sell policies in a specific county due to the risk of litigation, says Friedlander.
Companies that primarily sell insurance in Florida could choose not to sell policies in areas with a high risk of storm losses—specifically coastal counties.
Even Florida homeowners who currently have insurance in place are still at risk of losing coverage. Insurance companies assess the risk to insure your home each year. If they deem your home too risky to insure, they can cancel or not renew your policy.
And of course Florida home insurance companies that are going out of business won’t be renewing policies.
Fortunately, Florida insurance companies are legally required to provide at least a 30-day notice of the cancellation if the company declares bankruptcy or is canceling your policy mid-term. Additionally, the transaction must be approved by Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation.
If a Florida home insurance company decides not to renew a policy, they must give you a 120-day written notice. If this happens to you, it’s wise to begin searching for new coverage immediately.
Independent insurance agents represent the majority of private insurers. Independent agents can collect insurance insurance quotes from many insurers for you. And, if you qualify, they can also get home insurance quotes from Citizens.
Agents can also shop rates with ”surplus insurers” as a last resort if you don’t qualify for coverage elsewhere.
Another option is captive insurance agents, but they can provide quotes from only the insurance company they work for.
“In this market, it’s best to broaden your options and get as many quotes as possible since it’s such a tight market and so difficult to find coverage,” says Friedlander.
In some cases, you might need to turn to a surplus lines insurance company or non-admitted company—an out-of-state insurer that the Florida Office of Insurance Regulators does not regulate.
Surplus carriers can charge much higher rates and may not offer the same level of coverage that a regulated insurance company provides. Also, they don’t have backup funds from organizations like the Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which pays claims when an insurance company can’t pay claims after a significant hurricane.
Additionally, when Florida insurance companies go bankrupt, the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association handles the claims of current policyholders. But if you purchase insurance from a surplus lines company and it goes under, you won’t have the Guaranty Association as a backup.
“While purchasing insurance from a non-admitted carrier is risky, homeowners in coastal zones or who own uninsurable homes may have no choice but to buy a surplus policy,” says Friedlander. “In any case, you’ll want to work with an insurance agent who has the expertise to navigate a ‘minefield’ of property insurance in Florida.”
You’re not legally obligated to purchase home insurance if you own your home outright and don’t carry a mortgage. Opting to self-insure may seem like a viable option to avoid the headaches of searching for homeowners insurance in Florida, but choosing to self-insure means you’re financially responsible for all damage or destruction to your home.
Some Floridians choose to buy only a dwelling insurance policy that covers everything but windstorm events. These homeowners are financially responsible for any damage to their homes resulting from a hurricane, which leaves them exceptionally financially vulnerable.
“Nationally, about 5% to 7% of homeowners don’t have property insurance. However, we strongly recommend against this, since Florida is so vulnerable to severe weather events like hurricanes and catastrophic property losses,” says Friedlander.
“So, when buying insurance in Florida, pinpoint the best way to financially protect your home and family, and avoid financial ruin.”
A standard home insurance policy (designated as HO-3) covers your house for any mishap that’s not excluded in the policy. Common exclusions include sinkholes, power failure, neglect or wear and tear, nuclear hazard, vermin and insect infestations and intentional damage.
Your personal property is covered for specific identified “perils” in a standard home insurance policy. Theft, vandalism, tornadoes, fire or lightning and smoke damage are just some of the problems covered by home insurance.
It’s a good idea to review how home insurance works to protect you so you can best determine how much home insurance you need.
A standard home insurance policy is composed of these main coverage types:
Common exclusions found in a standard Florida home insurance policy include events like power failure, floods, earth movement (sinkholes, mudslides, mudflows, earthquakes), neglect, wear and tear, bird, vermin and insect infestations and intentional loss.
It’s always wise to review your policy closely to understand what is excluded from coverage.
A standard homeowners insurance policy doesn’t cover flood damage. And with flooding becoming more frequent, especially with the severe storms Florida receives, you may want to consider flood insurance.
Many areas in the U.S. experience catastrophic and expensive flooding, but these events may not have been declared a federal disaster. Financial help from the government after a flood can be limited. It’s best to have your own flood insurance to rely on. Most people who have flood insurance buy it through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a federal program. Private flood insurance is also available.
FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) can provide monetary and direct assistance after a major disaster or emergency, if you qualify. This program helps people find housing after a problem directly caused by a disaster that’s not covered by insurance or other sources.
Florida is one of the two states with the fewest earthquakes, according to the United States Geological Survey. (North Dakota is the other state.) Florida simply isn’t close to any tectonic plate boundaries. However, there are rare times when earthquakes do occur. For instance, in 2020, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded near the Florida and Alabama state line in Santa Rosa County.
Whether you’re about to close on your first home or seventh or have decided to switch insurance companies, you want to know you’re getting a good deal on great home insurance coverages. Here are suggestions for both newcomers and longtime homeowners:
Compare rates from participating carriers in your area via EverQuote's website
