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Carley Clark is a freelance financial writer based in Michigan. She has written for several well-known brands, including Benzinga, CNN Underscored, GOBankingRates, and FinanceBuzz. Carley earned her bachelor’s degree in business from Spring Arbor University in 2018 and later worked as a revenue auditor for a casino before transitioning to writing. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, playing video games, and going for walks with her dog.
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10+ years in insurance and personal finance content
30+ years in media, PR, and content creation
Evelyn leads Insurify’s content team. She’s passionate about creating empowering content to help people transform their financial lives and make sound insurance-buying decisions.
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Corporate communications director for Insurance Information Institute
20+ years in insurance and communications
As Director, Corporate Communications for Triple-I, Mark serves as the non-profit’s national spokesperson, sharing information and education on a wide array of insurance issues.
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At Insurify, our goal is to help customers compare insurance products and find the best policy for them. We strive to provide open, honest, and unbiased information about the insurance products and services we review. Our hard-working team of data analysts, insurance experts, insurance agents, editors and writers, has put in thousands of hours of research to create the content found on our site.
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The Florida insurance crisis began after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, when massive losses drove some insurers from the state. Since then, severe storms, fraudulent claims, and excessive lawsuits have only made it harder to find affordable coverage that meets your needs.[1]
Florida now has the highest home insurance premiums in the U.S., averaging $14,140 annually, according to Insurify data. That’s far above the national annual average of $3,259. Premiums have risen 34% just since 2022, according to an Insurance Journal analysis of data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR).
Major insurers like Progressive, Farmers, and AAA have scaled back underwriting in Florida or exited the state entirely. And although legislators have passed reforms intended to stabilize the insurance industry, homeowners still face soaring costs and limited options.
Here’s a look at what’s driving Florida’s homeowners insurance crisis and what comes next.
Florida has the highest average annual home insurance premiums in the U.S., Insurify data shows.
Citizens Property, Florida’s insurer of last resort, had nearly 772,000 policies in force as of Sept. 1, 2025.[2]
Since Florida implemented insurance reforms, lawsuits are down, new insurers are entering the state, and 29 companies have requested rate decreases.
Despite some improvement, Florida’s home insurance market is still in crisis. Premiums have skyrocketed, insurers have withdrawn, and policy non-renewals continue to rise. And 70% of Florida homeowners have experienced rising insurance costs or coverage changes (such as their insurer dropping them), a 2024 Redfin survey found.
Although Florida insurers have returned to overall profitability and some companies have filed for rate decreases, premiums remain high.
Between higher rates and less insurance availability, many Florida homeowners struggle to find affordable coverage. Many have turned to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-run insurer of last resort. But concerns persist about whether the insurer would be able to pay claims if catastrophic losses occur.
Policy Type  | Policies in Force | Total Exposure |
|---|---|---|
| Personal residential, wind only | 83,087 | $40.4 billion+ |
| Personal residential, multi-peril | 679,554 | $203 billion+ |
| Commercial residential, wind only | 3,042 | $23 billion+ |
| Commercial residential, multi-peril | 1,668 | $17.6 billion+ |
| Commercial non-residential, wind only | 2,998 | $2.7 billion+ |
| Commercial non-residential, multi-peril | 1,567 | $2 billion+ |
Lawmakers have responded to the Florida insurance crisis with reforms like Senate Bill 2A in 2022, which changed litigation rules and tightened claim deadlines. It also restricted assignment of benefits — a legal process that allows a third party (a roofing contractor, for example) to bill, deal with, and sue insurers directly. These efforts have encouraged some insurers to return, but homeowners still face fewer choices and high premiums.
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Several factors have fueled the Florida home insurance crisis, including inflation, fraudulent claims, a high volume of lawsuits, and natural disaster risks.
While fraud and litigation are the biggest contributors, Florida is more frequently seeing severe and costly weather events. For example, Hurricane Ian caused roughly $120 billion in damage in 2022.[3]
Reinsurance costs (the price insurers pay to insure themselves) have also driven up premiums. Since the state relies so heavily on reinsurance, any rise in global pricing makes it more expensive for insurers to operate.
As claims and reinsurance costs grow, insurers pass the costs to policyholders through higher premiums. Many companies have also tightened underwriting standards or left the state entirely, limiting insurance options for Floridians.
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Florida has experienced a high number of natural disasters in recent years. From 2020 to 2024, the state averaged nearly seven billion-dollar events per year, totaling almost $400 billion in damages, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The NOAA attributes the rise in disasters to climate change, which warms the oceans and increases atmospheric moisture — intensifying rainfall, hurricane activity, and flooding. Beyond hurricanes and floods, Florida also faces wildfires and occasional freezes, though they occur less frequently.
For Florida homeowners, the growing threat of catastrophic weather means a greater potential for storm damage, translating to rate increases and stricter underwriting standards.
Florida’s government has passed legislation to attract new insurers to the state — and it seems to be working. Fifteen new property insurance companies have entered the market since the reforms.[4]
Still, even with signs of Florida’s property insurance market stabilizing, more than 30 companies became insolvent, left the state, or pulled back during the height of the crisis. In fact, the number of active insurers remains lower in 2025 than in 2020.
When homeowners can’t find coverage in the private insurance market, they turn to Citizens Property. Florida’s insurance laws cap Citizens’ rates, so its policies are often cheaper. But as more Floridians rely on it, the company’s risk exposure increases. This has raised concerns about its solvency during widespread losses, including whether it may have to continue to increase premiums.
Lawsuits have been one of the biggest drivers of the Florida insurance crisis. In 2022, more than one in four closed claims in South Florida involved litigation.
Contractors and their attorneys often sued over minor disputes because Florida law required insurers to pay plaintiffs’ legal fees if they won.[5] On top of that, courts could award up to two and a half times the attorney fees, making home insurance lawsuits quite lucrative.
The high litigation costs pushed insurers into the red, causing many to raise premiums or stop writing policies altogether.
Reform efforts appear to be working. Lawsuits over property insurance claims have declined steadily since 2021, with less than 9% of closed claims litigated in 2024, according to FLOIR.
That said, Weiss Ratings (using NAIC data) found that insurers denied nearly 47% of homeowners claims in 2024, with about 13% of those denials leading to lawsuits. This suggests that while overall litigation is down, disputes over denied claims remain high.
Like the rest of the country, Florida has experienced heightened inflation since 2021. Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows the consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.5% in Miami and 3.3% in Tampa year over year, compared to 2.9% nationally.
Inflation and supply chain disruptions have pushed up the price of building materials, equipment, and skilled labor. As a result, home repairs and rebuilds cost more, so insurers have raised premiums to cover the higher payouts.
Meanwhile, property values have also climbed, partly because of inflation and rising construction costs. Since rebuilding a home costs more now, insurers have to charge higher policy premiums to ensure they can cover a total loss.
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Fraud is another major contributor to the destabilization of Florida’s insurance market. Although the state made up less than 10% of U.S. homeowners insurance claims in 2022, it accounted for 79% of lawsuits that year, according to the Insurance Information Institute. This statistic suggests that people could be exploiting loopholes in the legal system.
One of the most common insurance fraud scams involves roofing contractors who go door to door after storms, offering inspections and a “free roof.” These contractors often pressure homeowners to file claims for minor or nonexistent damages. Some even inflate the repair costs or perform unnecessary work, then sue the insurer if it disputes payment.
Assignment of benefits (AOB) agreements often enabled these schemes, allowing contractors to take over the policyholder’s claim and file lawsuits directly. The practice led to widespread abuse, ultimately driving up premiums for everyone. Reforms passed in 2022 banned AOBs for property insurance, helping reduce fraudulent activity.
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Florida lawmakers have passed several property insurance reforms aimed at stabilizing the industry. In 2024, the Legislature passed several bills to improve hurricane preparedness, expand mitigation funding, and strengthen consumer protections.
In 2025, legislators have taken additional steps and proposed new measures to address insurance market stability, long-term affordability, and storm resilience, including:
My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) program refunded MSFH, a program designed to prevent hurricane damage to residential homes. Lawmakers tabbed $280 million for windstorm-mitigation inspections and hardening homes.
House Bill 851/Senate Bill 1466 established an MSFH trust fund by collecting 5% of sales-tax dollars from counties affected by hurricanes.
House Bill 853/Senate Bill 1468 made impact-resistant doors and windows sold at retailers exempt from sales and use tax in February.
House Bill 1459 proposed to expand MSFH to include flood mitigation measures (didn’t pass).
House Bill 841 would’ve prohibited insurance companies from nonrenewing or canceling within certain time frames after hurricane or wind damage (didn’t pass).
Senate Bill 888 proposed requiring residential property insurers to submit a rate transparency report when filing for rate changes (didn’t pass).
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Insurify’s home insurance price projections expect Florida’s premiums to rise another 9% in 2025, reaching an average of $15,460 annually. That’s $1,320 more than in 2024.
As premiums continue to increase, more homeowners rely on Citizens Property, the state’s insurer of last resort. At its peak, Citizens covered more than 1.4 million insurance policies, raising concerns about its solvency and whether the company could withstand widespread losses.[6]
To reduce Citizens’ risk, lawmakers and state regulators are pushing to move homeowners back into the private insurance market. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approved Citizens’ 2025 rate changes, allowing increases of up to 14% for primary residences. The goal is to align Citizens’ rates with private insurers and reduce its overall exposure.
Florida’s experience may serve as a warning for other states facing an insurance crisis due to climate change. In Texas and Louisiana, storm damage and flood risk are driving up premiums, while California and Hawaii have seen sharp increases following recent wildfires. The higher the natural disaster risks, the more likely insurers are to increase rates and tighten underwriting to ensure solvency.
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The property insurance crisis in Florida has many homeowners worried. Here’s what you should know about how it could affect you and your insurance costs.
Frequent severe storms, inflation, and a high number of lawsuits and fraudulent claims have fueled the Florida insurance crisis. These factors have caused insurers to scale back coverage and, in some cases, even leave the state.
Yes. Rising insurance costs in Florida have affected homeowner affordability, prompting some people to leave the state. One-third of homeowners who lost coverage have moved or plan to move, according to a Redfin survey.
Florida homeowners who can’t get insurance on the standard market may be able to open a policy with Citizens Property, the state’s insurer of last resort. But as more Floridians rely on Citizens, it could affect the company’s ability to pay out in a widespread catastrophic disaster.
Insurify predicts that home insurance premiums will rise 9% in 2025. That puts the average insurance costs at $15,460 annually in Florida.
In 2024, the average premium for Florida homeowners insurance was $14,140 annually, according to Insurify. The state has the highest premiums in the U.S.
Insurify data scientists analyzed rates from more than 180 home insurance companies sourced directly from Insurify’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:
Default Coverage Assumptions
Additional data points beyond these default values are sourced from Insurify’s proprietary database. Rates are updated monthly.
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Carley Clark is a freelance financial writer based in Michigan. She has written for several well-known brands, including Benzinga, CNN Underscored, GOBankingRates, and FinanceBuzz. Carley earned her bachelor’s degree in business from Spring Arbor University in 2018 and later worked as a revenue auditor for a casino before transitioning to writing. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, playing video games, and going for walks with her dog.
10+ years in insurance and personal finance content
30+ years in media, PR, and content creation
Evelyn leads Insurify’s content team. She’s passionate about creating empowering content to help people transform their financial lives and make sound insurance-buying decisions.
Featured in
Corporate communications director for Insurance Information Institute
20+ years in insurance and communications
As Director, Corporate Communications for Triple-I, Mark serves as the non-profit’s national spokesperson, sharing information and education on a wide array of insurance issues.
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