MAITLAND -- The average Florida homeowner paid less for their premiums in 2023 than industry analysts had previously predicted, which is another sign that the overall market is stabilizing.

Despite the apparent positive trends, a lot of homeowners are still getting hit with pricey renewal notices. Tom Flood has lived in his Orange County home for about 12 years and has seen his premiums inch higher and higher over the years. "My first insurance premium was like $600 a year, and now I think we're up around $3,000 a year," Flood said. Living near world-famous beaches and amusement parks has its perks, but it certainly costs residents. The average Florida homeowner pays about $2,000 more per year than the national average just to insure their homes.

"I don’t see it slowing down whatsoever," Flood said.

Rising construction costs and natural disasters are some of the reasons why Florida homeowners pay more, but lawsuits are also a factor. State lawmakers made changes to prevent this issue during two special sessions in 2022, and it looks like those legislative reforms are helping to stabilize the market.

According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), the following eight companies have been approved to write homeowners policies in Florida:

• Manatee

• Mainsail

• Orion 180

• Orion 180 Select

• Tailrow

• Orange Insurance

• CORE

• Ovation.

State regulators also said huge national companies like State Farm, AAA, and Kin have committed to this as well.

Also, more private companies are taking over hundreds of thousands of Citizens’ policies, which have traditionally been seen as the state’s insurer of last resort.

There’s also good news regarding rate filings. WESH 2 Investigates received new data from the OIR showing that the number of companies filing to lower their rates increased from 10 in May to 23 in November. So far this year, 46 companies told regulators they don’t plan to raise their rates.

Despite this, many are still paying more each year on premiums.

"Those are base rates. Your premium is a combination of a base rate with individual rating factors for the property, including its replacement cost value," said Insurance Information Institute spokesman Mark Friedlander.

That helps explain why the premiums are still high despite the market's overall stabilization. Even with Hurricanes Helene and Milton, industry experts still predict Florida’s home insurance market is strong.

Fred Karlinsky is a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig and represents insurance companies in regulatory matters.

He agreed when asked if the market was healthy enough to absorb two big catastrophic storms.

"Florida's homeowners' market was healthy enough, as well as the reinsurance market, yes," Karlinsky said.

The Insurance Information Institute echoed that sentiment.

"The Florida property insurance industry is in its best financial position in nearly a decade," Friedlander said. "This positions them very well to act as a financial first responder to their customers for this year's hurricane activity."

Even though the signs continue to point in the right direction, Florida homeowners shouldn’t expect their premiums to drop to what they were before 2020.

"It's very difficult to turn the clock back," Friedlander said. "That's why we're just hopeful that rates are starting to stabilize."

NEWS PAGE

HOME