Florida Homeowners Insurance Trends

The Crisis, the 2026 Turnaround, and What It Actually Costs in Central Florida

From 2020 to 2023, Florida homeowners watched insurers go broke, premiums jump at renewal, and the state’s insurer of last resort balloon to more than a million policies. In 2026 the picture is different. Rates are coming down for many owners, new insurers are moving in, and Citizens is smaller than it has been in 25 years. The risk that makes Florida expensive to insure hasn’t gone anywhere, though, and a typical Central Florida home still costs about $2,600 to $3,600 a year to insure.

Short version: Florida’s insurance crisis was driven mostly by lawsuits. In 2020, Florida had about 9% of the nation’s homeowners claims but 79% of the lawsuits, according to the state Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). Six Florida insurers were liquidated in 2022 and another in early 2023. Reforms passed in 2022 and 2023 ended one-way attorney fees and assignment of benefits, and by 2025 Florida’s share of lawsuits had dropped to about 41%. Twenty-one new insurers have been approved since the reforms. Citizens fell from about 1.42 million policies in 2023 to under 255,000 in October 2026, and it cut its homeowners rates an average of 8.8% in July 2026. OIR’s averages for homeowners policies with wind coverage run from $2,650 in Lake County to $3,610 in Orange, about half what South Florida pays.

How Florida got here

Hurricanes get the blame, but the bigger problem in the crisis years was the courtroom. Under the old rules, a homeowner who won any amount in a lawsuit against an insurer could make the insurer pay the homeowner’s attorney fees. That’s known as one-way attorney fees. Contractors, especially roofers, could also have homeowners sign over their claim through an assignment of benefits (AOB) and then sue the insurer themselves. The result shows up in OIR’s numbers:

• Lawsuits. In 2020, Florida produced 8.81% of the nation’s homeowners claims but 79.16% of the nation’s homeowners lawsuits.
• Cost. A litigated claim costs far more to handle. In claims closed in 2025, insurers’ average adjustment expense was $15,257 on litigated claims, compared with $2,044 on those that never went to court.

Insurers raised rates, tightened underwriting, or failed. The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), which pays the claims of insolvent insurers, handled six Florida liquidations in 2022:

• St. Johns
• Avatar
• Lighthouse
• Southern Fidelity
• Weston
• FedNat

United Property & Casualty followed in February 2023, with 53,721 Florida policies. FIGA’s liability for those seven failures topped $1.2 billion. Every Florida policyholder helped pay for it through assessments added to their premiums: 2% in 2022, then a 1% emergency assessment that started in October 2023 and continues until FIGA’s bonds are paid off.

As private insurers pulled back, homeowners landed at Citizens Property Insurance, the state’s insurer of last resort. Citizens’ own counts show it growing from about 543,000 policies at the end of 2020 to about 1.4 million by fall 2023.

The reforms, and why 2026 looks different

The Legislature passed a series of reforms between 2019 and 2023. The two biggest:

• SB 2-A (December 2022). It ended one-way attorney fees and assignment of benefits for property insurance. It also shortened the time an insurer has to pay or deny a claim from 90 days to 60.
• HB 837 (2023). It repealed the one-way fee statute for all lines of insurance and limited when lawyers can get a fee multiplier in a bad-faith case.

Your rights under the claims rules that came out of these laws are covered in the Florida homeowners insurance guide.

The results took a couple of years to show up. OIR’s July 2026 Property Insurance Stability Report found:

• Fewer lawsuits. In 2025, Florida had 4.85% of the nation’s homeowners claims and 41.29% of its homeowners lawsuits (preliminary figures). Still lopsided, but about half the 2020 share.
• Insurers making money again. Florida’s domestic property insurers hit a combined ratio of 83% in 2025, the lowest in more than a decade. The combined ratio is the share of each premium dollar spent on claims and expenses, so anything under 100% means a profit.
• New competition. 21 new companies have been approved to write residential policies since the reforms. No property insurer has been referred for insolvency proceedings since March 1, 2023.
• Cheaper reinsurance. Reinsurance is the coverage insurers buy for themselves against a big storm. Early 2026 data showed nearly half of insurers getting price cuts of 15% to 25% on it.

For homeowners, that has meant rate decreases instead of increases. For policies effective in 2024 or later, OIR reports 44 companies asked for rate decreases and 48 asked for no change.

Citizens has shrunk faster than almost anyone predicted. It had 254,736 policies as of October 2, 2026, down about 82% from its peak of about 1.42 million in October 2023, and it now writes under 2% of Florida’s homeowners policies. For policies starting July 1, 2026 or later, regulators approved an average 8.8% decrease for Citizens homeowners multiperil policies, according to a Citizens bulletin.

What homeowners pay in Central Florida

Twice a year, OIR publishes the average premium in every county, calculated from the policies actually in force. These are averages across all kinds of homes and coverage amounts, not a quote for your house, but they’re the most reliable county comparison available. They’re also the default figures in Domuncula’s true monthly cost calculator.

A few things stand out:

• Central Florida pays about half of South Florida’s rate. Every one of the seven counties averages under $3,700, while Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach all run about $6,000 or more.
• “Inland” doesn’t automatically mean cheapest. Coastal Brevard averages about the same as Orange and Seminole. Lake, Polk, Volusia, and Osceola are lower.
• Lawsuits still play a part. In claims closed in 2025, 14% were litigated in Orange, Seminole, Lake, and Osceola combined. That compares with 27% in the three South Florida counties and 8% in the rest of the state. The Orlando metro’s higher litigation rate is one likely reason Orange and Seminole run above their neighbors.

Flood is never part of these numbers, since a homeowners policy doesn’t cover it. See the flood insurance guide for that cost. To see insurance alongside the mortgage and taxes in each county, see what it costs to buy a home in Central Florida.

Why your quote won’t match the average

Statewide “average premium” figures can range widely, because each source measures a different mix of homes. Your own price depends mostly on:

• The home’s age and construction. Homes built under the modern Florida Building Code (after the post-Andrew updates) generally cost less to insure than older ones.
• The roof’s age, shape, and attachment. This is often the single biggest factor. See the roof lifespan guide.
• Wind mitigation features. Insurers must give discounts for them, but only if they’re documented.
• The dwelling limit and the hurricane deductible you choose.
• Location within the county. Distance from the coast and local claim history both matter.
• Your claims history and credit-based insurance score, which Florida law allows insurers to use with limits.

The home inspection checklist covers the four-point, roof, and wind mitigation inspections insurers ask for. The homeowners insurance guide explains the roof-age law and how the discounts work.

The risk hasn’t gone away

Part of 2026’s good news is luck. OIR notes that no named storm made landfall in Florida during the 2025 season, while the three storms that hit in 2024 caused about $8.2 billion in insured losses. Reinsurance prices also fell because global reinsurers have plenty of capital right now. A bad hurricane season, or a turn in the reinsurance market, could push rates back up.

Insurers also stop selling new policies or adding coverage once a tropical storm or hurricane watch or warning is issued for Florida. Citizens did exactly that statewide in October 2026. Shop and adjust coverage early in the year, not when a storm is on the map. The hurricane preparedness guide and sinkholes in Florida cover the other risks insurers price in.

Three different lenses

Gen Z, 20-somethings

Renters insurance covers your belongings and liability, not the building, and it’s one of the cheapest policies there is. Many leases require it; the tenant rights guide covers what a landlord can and can’t require. First-time buyers are entering a much better insurance market than buyers in 2022 and 2023, with more companies quoting and rates falling. Get insurance quotes before you make an offer, not after. A condo can be a cheaper entry point on insurance, since the unit owner’s HO-6 policy averages $1,092 to $1,454 a year in these seven counties. But the association’s master policy and reserves matter just as much; see the condo buying guide and the condo cost calculator.

Millennials, 30s and 40s with kids

In the older-house versus newer-house decision, insurance is a real line item. An older home with an aging roof and no wind mitigation features can cost much more to insure than a newer one, and some insurers won’t write it at all until the roof is replaced. Ask for quotes on the specific house before you’re under contract. Families with pools should ask about liability limits and whether an umbrella policy makes sense. If the home is near a lake or in a low-lying area, price flood coverage separately, even outside a mapped flood zone.

60+, retirees

Long-time owners often have the oldest roofs, and roof age is the most common reason for a nonrenewal. A roof inspection, a wind mitigation inspection, and possibly the state’s My Safe Florida Home program can help. The program puts low-income applicants 60 and older first in line; the homeowners insurance guide has the details. Anyone still at Citizens should compare private quotes at renewal, since some are now cheaper. Downsizing into newer construction usually brings a lower premium along with less maintenance; the best places to retire in Central Florida guide covers the options. On a fixed income, think carefully before filing a small claim, since claims history affects future premiums.

The bottom line

Florida’s homeowners insurance market is healthier than it has been in years, and that shows up in real rate cuts and real competition. Central Florida pays far less than South Florida, though insurance is still a big part of the monthly cost of owning a home here. The things you control, the roof, wind mitigation features, deductibles, and shopping at renewal, matter more to your bill than anything happening at the state level.

Sources

• https://floir.gov/docs-sf/default-source/property-and-casualty/stability-unit-reports/july-2026-isu-report.pdf
• https://figafacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2023-FIGA-ANNUAL-REPORT.pdf
• https://www.citizensfla.com/policies-in-force
• https://www.citizensfla.com/-/20260430-july-2026-rate-rule-and-wind-loss-mitigation-updates

This article is for general informational purposes only and isn’t financial, legal, insurance, or tax advice – for guidance specific to your situation, talk to a licensed professional.